(1 July 2005 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Australia's Sky News has signed a two-year deal with interactive TV player Two Way TV to enhance viewer interaction. This arrangement will help viewers to vote on issues via their mobile phone.

Simcast, the mobile technology which Two Way TV has licensed to Sky News, handles incoming mobile phone messages and voting and broadcasts voting results and messages live on air in real time, stated Australian media reports.

Two Way TV and Sky News will share the revenue from the mobile messaging on a 50/50 basis.

Two Way TV also offers an interactive games channels via Australian pay TV operators Foxtel and Austar.