Subscription Teletext for Value Added Services

Teletext is rapidly becoming a household name in many countries in Europe. Its success is partly because it can provide instant information to anyone with a suitable decoder free of charge. In the UK, teletext services are financed either from the licence fee (Ceefax) or from advertising revenue (Oracle). Videotex systems such as Prestel make use of the public telephone network and are interactive and can be financed by charging the user directly. The user pays for the telephone connection, computer time and the information. These costs can be prohibitive particularly when terminals remain connected throughout the day.