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|issn=0001-253X
}}</ref> Travel agents, for example, used Gateway to connect to [[Tour operator|tour operators']] systems and make reservations.<ref name=Rutter />{{rp|153}}
===Growth===
In September 1982, ''[[The Times]]'' reported there were 18,000 users, of whom 3,000 were residential.<ref name=Times-stats-Sept82>
{{
cite newspaper The Times
|title=Prestel plans another offensive
|first=Bill
|last=Johnstone
|department=Computers and Technology
|date=6 September 1982
|page=13
|issue=61330
|column=2
|url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1982-09-06/13/7.html
}}</ref> Noting that British Telecom had originally forecast 50,000 users at this point, the report went on to outline a new approach to attracting them, quoting senior managers from British Telecom and the head of a [[joint venture]]. The plans involved the introduction of a home banking service; the marketing of a Prestel adaptor for computer terminals to the business and higher education sectors; and the launch of [[Micronet 800]], a service for microcomputer users.
Six months later, in February 1983, the same newspaper recorded 22,400 users, of whom 15% were residential, writing that the future of Prestel "could be in doubt by 1985 if it is not approaching profitability."<ref name=Times-stats-Feb83>
{{
cite newspaper The Times
|title=Prestel races to attract business
|first=Bill
|last=Johnstone
|department=Business News
|date=3 February 1983
|page=16
|issue=61447
|column=2
|url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1983-02-03/16/4.html
}}</ref>
In June 1984, the UK [[Department of Trade and Industry (United_Kingdom)|Department of Trade and Industry]] issued a booklet stating that the availability of travel information, the launch of [[Micronet 800]], and the provision nationwide of the messaging service, Mailbox, had contributed to a rise to 45,000 users.<ref name=DTI-1984>
{{
cite book
|title=Viewdata in Retail and Distribution
|author=Department of Trade & Industry
|author-link=Department of Trade and Industry (United_Kingdom)
|date=1984
|page=8
|publisher=IT Division, Department of Trade & Industry
|location=London
|oclc=17676964
|id=[[British Library]] shelfmark GPB-4720
}}</ref> 61% were business, and 39% residential. In that month, on average, the Prestel database contained 320,000 frames that were accessed 14.6 million times.<ref name=Rutter />{{rp|128}} For July, the Butler Cox [[management consulting|consultancy]] recorded 47,000 users (60% business, 40% residential), 1,200 IPs, and 17 external computers accessed via Prestel Gateway.<ref name=ButlerCox1985 />{{rp|26, Fig. 1.15}}
==Database==
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