European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 12, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                France Pioneer in the comm by Paul Lewis new York times n Stormy nights when Atlantic rollers Pound the beaches of Biarritz Many inhabitants of the fashionable French resort close the curtains reach for their phones and dial 01 -28-62. That is the number of the world s first and Only televise club an Enterprise that offers subscribers a Choice of More than 2,000 videocassettes not to borrow but to look at on their Telephone or videophone As the combination Telephone and television being installed in Biarritz is called. Already 1,500 Biarritz households Are equipped with these Tabletop machines. They incorporate a Telephone to screen movable to camera and data Bank linked to an underground web of Glass fiber cables Able to carry 10 times More information than a Normal coaxial Cable. Biarritz is showpiece and Guinea pig for France s latest government sponsored telecommunications plan expected to Cost the equivalent of $6 billion. Started three years ago by president Francois Mitterrand the plan provides for the wiring of All major French towns and cities with optical fiber Cable by the end of the Century eventually allowing the general use of videophones. France has already established a leading position in several Fields of advanced telecommunications including digital switching equipment and electronic Telephone directories with its mini Tel system. Now French engineers Forsee the emergence of a powerful visual communications system based on videophones and optical fiber cables capable of handling vast quantities of information and images. And they want to establish a world Lead in the technology. Plans Are already Complete for cabling the towns of Montpellier Rennes and parts of Paris. By the end of 1988, an expected 3.1 million Homes will be connected to optic fiber systems Biarritz is a show window. We have built the most advanced Urban communications system in existence said Guy Mondore. A French Post office telecommunications Engineer overseeing the project. Jacques Chirac France s conservative prime minister has expressed general support for the cabling plan but said private investors should take Over More of the Cost to reduce the pressure on the government s budget. Other countries Are moving in the same direction As France although none yet offer As Complete a visual communications system As Biarritz. A West German company is providing fiber optic transmission of Telephone and to communications As Well As data and graphics among the cities of Berlin Dusseldorf Hamburg. Hannover Nurnberg and Stuttgart. The system is used by some Banks and also by deaf people. In Japan Nippon Telegraph & Telephone co. Is installing its ins information network system that allows transmission of Telephone data and images. In Biarritz videophone owners Are already Able to see each other As they Chat. They can also show one another documents graphic designs pictures and Cata logs both in color and Black and White. They can walk around the room with the hand held camera transmitting live pictures of their guests to a absent Friend. They can dial into the televise club Call up a film and switch it onto their Home to screen. Or they can choose among 12 to channels including Spanish Swiss and British stations picked up from broadcasting satellites by a shared dish receiver. They can switch the Imago into a bigger Home to screen As Well As six a Larrita t televise club Lubee Ribera can keep an Eye on one another without being in the tame place at the tame time. Page 14 the stars and stripes