Get Global Electronic Transfer AG, a multimedia company based in Oberhaching near Munich, intends to set up an interactive TV portal on the Astra satellite system (19.2 degrees East).

According to Get spokesman Lorenz Schmilinsky, the company has rented transponder 60 (10.877 GHz V) within the 1D low-band, formerly used in analogue, for the new digital service.

The Get portal features the reception of around 320 digital radio and TV channels, an EPG, Internet access, e-mail, video and music on demand downloads, home shopping and home banking. Schmilinsky said that “well known content providers” would offer get subscribers their goods and services via the e-commerce platform, accessible by pressing buttons on the remote control. The Get portal can be received using a standard Astra dish and a set-top-box, the Siemens Activity 300 which will be handed to Get subscribers free of charge. The box is connected directly to the TV set without the need for a PC and also functions as a digital VCR with storage capacity for around 10 hours of TV programming, as a DVD player, an audio and photo CD player and a smart card reader. For the return channel needed for interactive applications an ISDN telephone line is used. The Get portal, which aims for cable distribution in addition to DTH, will be tested in a trial in northern Germany with around 200 homes at the end of November.