Beltel was the name and
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
used by the
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n Department of Posts and Telecommunications (later
Telkom) for its
Videotex
Videotex (or interactive videotex) was one of the earliest implementations of an end-user information system. From the late 1970s to early 2010s, it was used to deliver information (usually pages of text) to a user in computer-like format, typi ...
system between the mid eighties and 1999.
The system used telephone lines and
modems
A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...
connected to
personal computers
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or techn ...
or to
dumb terminals
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. The teletype was an example of an early-day hard-copy terminal and ...
which had built in modems.
The system incorporated a
billing system
Billing may refer to:
Invoicing
*The process of sending an invoice (a bill) to customers for goods or services
**Electronic billing
**Medical billing, a payment practice within the United States health system
**Telecommunications billing, systems ...
which enabled
information providers and
service provider
A service provider (SP) is an organization that provides services, such as consulting, legal, real estate, communications, storage, and processing services, to other organizations. Although a service provider can be a sub-unit of the organization t ...
s to receive payment for information and services provided to
users
Ancient Egyptian roles
* User (ancient Egyptian official), an ancient Egyptian nomarch (governor) of the Eighth Dynasty
* Useramen, an ancient Egyptian vizier also called "User"
Other uses
* User (computing), a person (or software) using an ...
. The billing system was capable of handling very small transactions, and referred to as
Micro-billing. Today all of the functionality of the Beltel system, and more, is delivered by handheld
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s or
cellphone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s and
PDA
PDA may refer to:
Science and technology
* Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books
*Personal digital assistant, a mobile device
* Photodiode array, a type of detector
* Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting poly ...
s which utilize
mobile payment
A mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device, as the cardinal class of d ...
.
Booklets/Magazines:
What is BELTEL?
BELTEL user manual. (Setting up, Facilities, Passwords, Logging off, Mail, Commands)
Videotex SA Beltel. (Various business services for its 14,000 users) (In 1990)
BELTEL as a business tool
The BELTEL post box.
Telematics: (News, views, reviews and adverts) (Seasonal)
Beltel provided many online services such as:
Debates, competitions, prizes.
Banking:
Allied Bank,
First National Bank,
Nedbank,
Standard Bank,
Trust bank,
United Bank,
Volkskas Bank
Credit Checking:
National Credit Bureau
Message Handling:
Beltel e-Mail,
Interlink,
Telkom 400
Agriculture
Agritel Fresh Produce,
Agritel Meat Service,
Boere-Data,
Mielieraad
Directories:
INNOBEL,
Electronic Yellow Pages
Entertainment:
Bel-Base,
Elmdene SA,
Playworld,
Times Media
Chatlines:
FROGG,
Intercom
News/Weather:
Agritel,
Bel-Base,
Elmdene SA,
Times Media
Classifieds:
Bel-Base,
CDS Classifieds,
Junk Mail
References
{{Videotex
Telecommunications equipment
Videotex