BSKYB and Eircom are close to signing a deal which would enable subscribers to digital television provider, Sky, to send e-mails and place bets via their TV sets next year.

Sky's chief operating officer, Mr Richard Freudenstein, confirmed talks were progressing yesterday after he signed a deal with RT╔.

This deal will enable Sky's digital customers living in the Republic and Northern Ireland to receive RT╔ 1, Network 2 and TG4 via satellite from April 2002.

RT╔'s four radio stations will also be available to Sky subscribers on its digital platform. However, RT╔ will not be available to Sky customers in the UK.

The deal should make Sky's digital platform more attractive to Irish consumers who will now be able to receive RT╔ without installing a roof-top aerial or subscribing to a cable operator.

RT╔ paid an undisclosed sum to join the Sky platform but will benefit from additional advertising revenues as it increases its reach and viewing figures.

In an interview with The Irish Times yesterday, after speaking at a digital media conference in Dublin, Mr Freudenstein said it was a good deal for both parties.

He said Sky had agreed to place RT╔'s channels at the top of its electronic programme guide for Irish viewers. The deal would also increase the availability of TG4 to the 9 per cent of people who could not access it in the Republic.

He said Sky had 193,000 subscribers in the Republic and digital TV uptake here was the third-highest in Europe at 17.5 per cent.

But Mr Freudenstein said a competing digital terrestrial television service, as planned by the Government, could work if it was carefully thought out.

He said the operators of a service would have to learn from mistakes made at the UK's digital terrestrial service, ITV Digital. This service faced a financial crisis earlier this year.

An RT╔ spokeswoman said the sale of its network was going ahead as planned and consultants were confident about the sale.

The spokeswoman continued by saying RT╔ was platform neutral and would look at digital terrestrial as a distribution network.

Meanwhile, Mr Freudenstein said Sky would launch a range of interactive services in the first six months of 2002 in the Republic.

These services would include e-mail, betting, games and interactive advertising, according to Mr Freudenstein.

He also said Sky was progressing talks with a telecoms partner here in Ireland.

An Eircom spokeswoman refused to comment yesterday but it is understood BSkyB is talking to the firm which supplies most residential homes.

This would enable Sky to distribute interactive services through a subscriber's phone line which would be connected to its own set-top box.

A successful deal with Eircom would be similar to a series of UK telecoms deals which Sky has struck with telecoms operators such as BT and Thus.

"In the UK we get a revenue share with telephone companies and other channels which participate on interactive services," Mr Freudenstein said.

Sky will also have to sign a number of deals with partners that are capable of supplying these types of interactive service.