The present invention is a hybrid communications system (10) using satellite
and terrestrial interfaces comprising an application server (12) with an
application program (14) for the input of information by a user, the application
server (12) being in electronic communication with a broadcast center (16),
a communications satellite (18), an individual satellite dish (20),
an integrated receiver decoder (22), and a Graphical User Interface (26)
for a user to input information into the application program (14). The information
is then transmitted over the Internet via a modem (28) in electronic communication
with a communications server (30) for encapsulating information input by
a user, an interactive server (32) for translating the information into
a network protocol, and a vendor (34) that receives the information, wherein
in one embodiment, at least a portion of the application program (14) received
from the communications satellite (128) is stored in a buffer (24)
before being transmitted through the modem (28).
