20 take O.A.S.I.S.

Press, 27 February 1980, Page 31

20 take O.A.S.I.S.

The Post Office has 20 clients for its 0.A.5.1.5. computer information system, which began last September, and. others are interested. 0.A.5.1.5. stands for Overseas Access Service for Information Systems, and allow its members to link, through the sub-scriber-telephone-dialling network, to two big information systems in the United States.

One of these is Tymnet, based in Cupertino. California. Through this network, scores of firms offer computer services or data bases as diverse as insurance actuarial systems, agricultural statistics, patent records. a chemical dictionary, business news, a project management control system, oceanography literature, marketing information, prices of stocks and

shares and financial statements of 2000 European and Australian companies. The other network, Telenet, based in Washington, has a similar range and includes services such as flow charting, plottinggranhics, and simulation. It has dailv information from North American stock exchanges. teleniTicnssing services, a 500.000-item file of references and articles on health subjects, and access to the "New York Times” Information Bank. Perhaps the prize item in Telenet is the Lockheed Dialog groun of 70 data bases. Periodicals, reports, reviews, patents, conference proceedings. and documents in more than 40 different languages are available through the New Zealand 0.A.5.1.5. client’s computer.

How much does the ser-

vice cost? For a business, a modem (this converts computer data to and from telephone signals) will cost $65 to install and the rent is $32.40 a month. The 0.A.5.1.5. cost is 60c for every 1000 characters exchanged nlus 20c a minute connected. On top of this, the subscriber must pay > the American host computer. Charges here seem tn vary from about $l5 to $9O for each hour on-line to the computer and an additional 10c to 20c per record printed off-line. T'mically, each network offers a discount if the user is on-line five or more hours a month. The Post Office plans to extend 0.A.5.1.5.. eventually, allowing access to, for intance, the Euronet data network in Europe and Australia’s Austinet.