The smaller antenna was BSB's unique selling point and was heavily advertised in order to attract customers to their service.

But MAC took a back seat when BSB unveiled the mock up Squarial, to replace the dish aerials usually needed for satellite reception.

Industry rumours at the time of launch suggested that BSB were buying the squarials from Matsushita for several hundred pounds each and heavily subsidising the cost to the four manufacturers of DMAC receiver.

[1] The Squarial consisted of a planar array of either 144 or 256 resonant cavity antennas spaced 0.9 wavelength apart, all embedded in plastic.

The Squarial's small size was possible thanks to the high power of the two Marcopolo DBS satellites, which simulcast the same channels on the same frequencies.

The Squarial was a specialized antenna designed specifically for operation on the Marco Polo satellites' frequency range.

This was due in large part to the highly discounted price of the unit during the final months of BSB's existence.

BSB's alternative dishes were also successfully used to receive analogue transmissions from the Astra and Hot Bird satellites.

[3] The unique appearance was a design first for satellite antennae, its flat plate measured only a few millimetres thick and the LNB unit protruded another 3 cm from the rear.

It was built to a very high standard, featuring good quality plastics, weather resistant coatings and stainless steel mounting arm.