Transpac, also written TRANSPAC, was a French public data network that operated from the December 1978 to June 2012.
History
editIt was opened in December 1978 by the semi-public Transpac society.
It offered the X.25 interface to its users, the CCITT standard of 1976 for which computer scientists of the Centre national d'études des télécommunications (CNET) had played a major role. This network has been part of the worldwide X.25 network which, before the Internet, permitted data exchanges around the planet.[1]
Initially created for professional customers, it was later used by millions of French terminals Minitels to access consumer applications, forerunners of those of the Internet.[1]
In 1987, Transpac was the world's largest public packet-switched network with revenues of nearly $400m.[2] Minitel videotex services accounted for 45% of its data and 20% of its $678m revenue in 1990.[3] By 1991, it was operating in fifteen European countries.[4]
France Télécom closed the Minitel service, and the Transpac network via which it was available, in June 2012.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "X.25 Virtual Circuits - Transpac in France - Pre-Internet Data Networking". IEEE. November 2010. doi:10.1109/MCOM.2010.5621965.
- ^ IDG Network World (1988-09-26). Network World. IDG Network World Inc.
- ^ IDG Network World (1991-09-16). Network World. IDG Network World Inc.
- ^ Chung, Seon Jong (1996). Information Highways for a Smaller World and Better Living: Proceedings of ICCC'95 (12th International Conference on Computer Communication) August 21-24, Seoul. IOS Press. ISBN 978-90-5199-240-3.
- ^ "How France fell out of love with Minitel". INDEPENDENT. June 2012.