French digital pay-TV operator TPS has launched an e-mail service for its subscribers, reports our sister publication Inside Digital TV. The service differs in several ways from the one introduced by BSkyB last year, which also uses the OpenTV platform. When using the service, the subscriber selects channel 99, ‘the e-mail channel’, and can then write the e-mail on the TV screen off-line; a phone connection is made only when the user is ready to send the e-mail. Users are also informed via satellite that they have mail waiting. Connection required to retrieve e-mails is at premium rates, Fr2.23 (Euro 0.34) a minute for sending and Fr0.45 a minute for receiving.

TPS has also cut a deal with Lastminute.com, which will post a re-purposed version of its site on the TPS home shopping platform. In addition, the operator says that it will add an online betting facility to the TPS set-top box in mid-September.

Finally, TPS has announced that towards the end of this year it is to launch a new set-top box, made by Sagem, which will provide Internet on the TV screen. The connectivity will be provided by a high-speed modem, as opposed to a satellite download. TPS expects this terminal to appeal to around 10 per cent of its subscribers.