RT╔ will today sign a deal with digital television group BSkyB that will make its channels available via satellite. The deal will enable Sky customers to receive RT╔ on their minidishes from April, without subscribing to a cable operator or using a rooftop aerial.

Almost 160,000 Irish people are believed to be Sky digital subscribers and the addition of Irish channels will make the platform more attractive for viewers here. BSkyB's chief operating officer, Mr Richard Freudenstein, and RT╔ director general, Mr Bob Collins, will attend a formal signing ceremony later today.

RT╔ will be able to extend its own reach and increase advertising revenue through the deal. But it could undermine the Government's plans to establish a State-wide digital platform in competition to Sky. A similar digital terrestrial television platform formed in the UK, ITV Digital, ran into financial trouble this year. An equivalent Irish service would be even later into the market and have fewer economies of scale than this one.