The Bi-Bop mobile phone

In 1993 France Télécom created the experimental Bi-Bop phone network in Strasbourg, Lille and Paris. Users could make and receive calls if they were in an area covered by a radio transmitter, to which they had to connect first. Blue, white and green stickers on drainpipes and electric poles identified the transmitters' location. France Télécom offered the service on attractive terms: consumers paid much less for Bi-Bop, including the mobile phone, than for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) system. But GSM was more efficient and easier for users, who did not have to be near a transmitter. The system was a commercial failure, France Télécom discontinued service in 1997 and GSM became the mobile telephony standard.