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HOW
THE INTERNET
IS
CHANGING
THE WAY
WE
DO
BUSINESS
IN FRANCE
B Y P A T R I C I A M c C L E L L A N D
Co-Founder and Past President, France Chapter
The following article was published in the March 1999 issue of the IEEE
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Professional Communication
newsletter. We reprint it here with their permission. The author has updated
the article since its original publication.
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Internet
use in the United States and Canada is common. But in France it is another
story. For the most part, only technically aware consumers, such as the
members of IEEE and STC are online. But that may soon change, given some
interesting marketing forces at play. |
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How STC members communicate |
I thought
that the readers of IEEE-PCS might be curious about knowing how we manage
in France. You might be wondering how we do communicate among STC members.
Do we use e-mail, snail mail, or the Fax machine? In research I conducted
recently, I found out that we use all of those means -- but we usually
save snail mail for Christmas cards and the fax for sending colleagues
newspaper articles. We use e-mail for almost everything else.
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| 86
percent of STC members had e-mail in 1997 |
When I was President of the STC-France Chapter, every month I received a
list of chapter members (the France Chapter covered 15 European countries).
One evening I counted the members who had e-mail addresses. Fully 86 percent
of us had an Internet connection. We realized that we could save money sending
out many types of information to our members by e-mail and that we could
post important things on our Web site that we created in 1996. Because there
were still some who didn't have e-mail, we decided to only send out reminders
or duplicates of meeting invitations. Last September, the STC France Chapter
had the pleasure of hosting the Society of Technical Communications' first
Board Meeting of the year in Paris. Absolutely all of the planning with
the head office and the members in Europe and Israel was conducted by e-mail.
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| 99.3
percent had e-mail in 1998 |
During that successful meeting, attended by 107 members from Europe and
Israel, I took a quick poll. I asked how many members did not have access
to an e-mail account either at home or at work. Only one person raised her
hand, equaling less than 1 percent. Now, everything we publish goes out
by e-mail. That includes: surveys, newsletters, training application forms,
meeting reminders, and soon our directory called Who's Who in STC Europe.
The first time we sent something out by e-mail, it was prompted by the need
to save money. Now we do it out of convenience and to reach our members
quickly. |
| Internet
technology in France |
In France, we have modem access as well as ISDN lines to connect. Some of
us (I do) even have cybercable which is a hookup to the Internet through
cable modems. Through cybercable, you can download a one-minute video of
2 MB in 10 seconds instead of 10 minutes using a 28,800 bits/second modem.
(Source: Lyonnaise de Cable, the service provider). Impressive.
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| Impact
of Minitel |
Many people are under the impression that in France, residents are not interested
in the Internet because they have Minitel, an interactive terminal connected
to videotext. There are currently 10 million terminals in France each used
by more than three people, which totals more than 30 million users (Source:
France Telecom, the French phone company). The good part is that those users
are already accustomed to using a terminal to obtain information. They are
technically literate. Nor are they leery about security online. The day
they decide to shift to the Internet, there is going to be an explosion.
One of the reasons they haven't changed over is simply that they are used
to Minitel. Right now, Minitel users have to pay for every service they
access on the Minitel, often at more than 40 cents a minute. |
| Using
the Internet is expensive |
Every time we get on the Internet in France, we have to pay 12 cents for
3 minutes for a local call. The result is hefty phone bills. To change all
that, ADIM (Association des Internautes Mécontents/Association of Discontent
Internet Users) has called on all Internet users to stage a boycott of the
Internet on December 13, 1998 and January 31st, 1999. They want to put pressure
on France Telecom, the national telephone company, to grant Internet users
a flat fee for accessing the Web. That news even made the pages of the U.S.
Industry Standard on January 13, 1999. (www.thestandard.net/articles/display/0,1449,3129,00.html?home.bf)
Most users believe that France Telecom will give in soon. So it shouldn't
be long before Minitel users make the transition to the Web. |
| Three
million computers sold in France in 1998! |
According
to Mediangles, a French Internet research company, there were already
more than 2.7 million Internet users at work or at home in France in May
1998 representing 5.2% of the population. Mediangles
has since reported that their "latest survey was made in April 99 and
reports 5,6 million French users age 15 and above." (Source:
www.Mediangles.fr). The latest information
from Reuters on January 11, 1999 suggests that there are now 4 million.
It seems that individuals are better equipped than companies! They have
more CD-ROM readers and better sound equipment than the companies they
work for. Because they only acquired computers during the last two years,
the French now own up-to-date equipment. Three million computers were
sold in France in 1998 alone! (Source: Le Monde de l'Informatique, a reputed
computer magazine) For a population of 56 million, that is an impressive
number.
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| Last
minute scoop |
As this was going to the press, Infonie, an Internet Access Provider in
France announced it is launching a bundled package for would-be Internauts
on January 27, 1999. They are offering a cheap PC at $355.00 in exchange
for a commitment from buyers to use them as Internet Access Providers at
$26.50 a month for two years. Although the offer only concerns 20,000 computers,
chances are that it will spark other similar offers from competitors. Anyone
who had previously been sitting on the fence will probably go for this alluring
offer. At $355 for a computer, it looks like a good deal. These recent statistics
show that the French are, indeed, getting wired. And we're likely to see
a major shift in the next year, if the telephone company agrees to a new
Internet rate. The Internet opportunities in France seem poised to take
off. We will all be watching with great interest. |
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Patricia McClelland co-founded the Society for Technical Communication --
France Chapter in 1991 (PatriciaMcClelland@compuserve.com).
She is a telecommuter and partner in e-Storm International Consulting (www.e-Storm.com)
based in San Francisco. e-Storm is a Web Marketing firm that develops marketing
and public relations programs to promote their clients' sites to different
audiences targeted by them in Europe, Asia and North America.
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Fall 1999
Volume 2, # 4
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