Freesat, the free-to-view satellite service jointly owned by the BBC and ITV, recently deployed the beta version of its hybrid broadcast broadband MHEG interaction channel (MHEG IC).

This enables the broadcaster to offer streamed video-on-demand content, text, graphics and even secure transactions.

The organisation that backs this technology and the industry is known as the International MHEG Promotion Alliance (IMPALA), which has welcomed the broadcaster’s foresight in becoming the first satellite provider in the world to deploy the hybrid technology on its platform.

The hybrid system allows a broadcaster to come up with applications that help the system identify if a broadband connection is available to use.

This may require the user to connect the service to the home wireless or wired network.