Beltel was the name and

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

used by the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

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 The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establish ...

connected to

personal computers A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

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. Most early computers only had a front panel to input or display b ...

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 or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

s or

cellphone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...

s and PDAs which utilize

mobile payment 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. Instead of paying with cas ...

. 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