Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: bill@toto.UUCP (Bill Cerny) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Whither Telidon? (Was: What is SONET?) Message-ID: Date: 29 Oct 89 04:32:18 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 27 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 479, message 4 of 10 In article , gld@cunixd.cc.columbia. edu (Gary L Dare) writes: > Since we touched a bit on Canadian technology efforts in telecom, can > someone give us an update on Telidon? The (Canadian) gov't sponsored Telidon trials of the early 80's have spawned commercial offerings in Bell Canada ("Alex") and SaskTel ("Agritex"). The Canucks are pretty proud of their Telidon efforts, which they claim delivered the present-day North American Presentation Level Protocol Syntax (NAPLPS, pronounced "nap-lips"). Now here's the twist: Bell Canada will offer Alex in Toronto next spring, in addition to Montreal where Alex was launched a couple years ago. SaskTel reports that the "Grass Roots" program available over Agritex (at a mere $0.10[Canadian]/min.) is quite popular. How do these companies justify the continued operation of these videotext services when American companies (viz., Pacific Telesis) cite exhorbitant investment and poor public interest as reasons for avoiding similar videotext gateways in the U.S.? Contacts: Ross Richardson, SaskTel (306) 777-3905 Alex Marketing Group, Bell Canada (514) 870-6881 Bill Cerny bill@toto | attmail: !denwa!bill | fax: 619-298-1656