Rick Mitchell

France’s top-selling online merchant, the discount travel agency Dégriftour said that its total online business volume in June equaled the Minitel volume for the first time ever. “The threshold of 50 percent of business volume over the Internet was crossed for the first time in June and maintained in July,” said Pierre Alzon, Dégriftour’s general […]

France Telecom has finally launched its complicated monthly flat rate for ISP connections, but Internet advocates here are already looking ahead to the no-limit ADSL access the operator plans to offer this fall. The discounted rate of FF100 (US $16.7) applies to 20 hours of local telephone connection to ISPs, but the upcoming ADSL plan […]

Powered mainly by business-to-business sales, French Internet commerce surged by 1,280 percent in 1998 and should expand even more dramatically in the next five years, according to a report by International Data Corp.’s French subsidiary, IDC France. “With a doubling of the number of machines connected to the Net (to 2.36 million) and of the […]

The Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) has linked up with the free ISP LibertySurf to promote its year-old online banking service BNPNet. “We’ve signed a partnership agreement for a combined offer of our services, but these will remain independent,” said Carole Liscia, a spokesperson for LibertySurf. In advertisements appearing in French newspapers, BNP, France’s second-largest […]

The Dutch broadband network company United Pan-Europe Communication (UPC), has launched a high-speed cable Internet access service in France that could eventually pose a challenge to the French leader in cable access, Cybercable. UPC, part of Denver-based UnitedGlobalCom group, also announced two acquisitions that dramatically extended its French network and solidified its position as Europe’s […]

The French telecommunications regulation authority announced this week that it had advised the government to ratify a France Telecom proposal that would set a FF100 (US $16.6) flat rate for 20 hours of telephone connection to ISPs. However, the authority flatly rejected as anti-competitive a France Telecom stipulation that would limit availability to Internet users […]

Customers of French ISP Cybercable, whose service has been plagued by numerous technical glitches and bad press since its much-anticipated launch last year, this week gathered at the company’s Paris headquarters to protest what they are calling Cybercable’s inept handling of malfunctions and customer communication. “Their service has been a complete technical disaster, but they […]

The free-ISP phenomenon that ignited in the UK last year has spread to France. Five ISPs offering unlimited access at no charge have appeared since April, with another charging a token euro. Although it is unclear how they will earn a profit, several more free ISPs are in the works. Services and coverage vary widely. […]

Olitec, France’s leading manufacturer of modems and communications software, plans to guarantee the compatibility of its products with the Linux operating system, a company spokeswoman said. “Within two months, Olitec will affix stickers to all its modems, guaranteeing that they are Linux compatible,” said the spokeswoman, Isabelle Gomès. “This will require no hardware changes. It […]

A recent French court ruling in an intrusion-of-privacy suit that led to the shutdown of a popular Web-host company demonstrates that the laws regulating French Internet use need repair, said French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. “This news is a reminder that rules applying to the Internet still need to be adapted,” Jospin said, referring to […]

France Telecom plans to begin testing in April on a screen phone that uses an IBM-developed software platform to give Minitel users quick, easy access to both the Internet and the Minitel, France’s closed-loop e-commerce network, company sources said. “The screen-phone terminal is intended to give Minitel users who are uncomfortable with PCs a very […]

French companies spent twice as much on Internet advertising in 1998 than they did the year before, though these sales still account for just a fraction of overall advertising revenue in France, according to a new study. “1998 was year-one for advertising on the Internet for large French companies, many of which effectively matched each […]