Vendors gear up for free HD TV

Freesat satellite service from BBC and ITV will rival Sky

Manufacturers are preparing products for receiving free satellite TV services, including high-definition programmes, which are due to launch within weeks.

Details of the Freesat services, a joint enterprise between ITV and the BBC, are thin on the ground but it appears that a provisional launch date of May 8 has been set.

Freesat will offer about 80 channels, some of which are already available to anyone with a dish aerial capable of receiving Sky from the Astra 2 satellite. Dishes pointing at the nearby Eurobird satellite should also be able to receive them.

Channel Four is under contract to Sky and until recently could be received only by buying a £20 conditional-access card. But the channel is reported to be freely available on Astra 2; Channel Five is expected to be available later this year.

Equipment for receiving Freesat will be available from high street retailers including Comet, Currys, John Lewis and Argos.

Today Hauppauge announced a USB2.0 device capable of receiving Freesat, including HD content. The £79.99 Nova-S USB2.0 can also be linked to an optional module providing access to paid-for satellite channels if you slot in the appropriate payment card.

It comes with software for viewing and recording standard TV; Win TV software version 7, which will be freely downloadable in the next few weeks, will support HD. But the card will work with third-party HD-enabled software.

Freesat will compete with Freesat from Sky, as well as Sky's subscription channels.