Communication system and method capable of broadcasting by using terrestrial and satellite communication networks

A communication system for use in carrying out communication by combining a terrestrial communication network with a satellite communication network which includes a satellite and an earth station, comprising:

• service providing terminals, coupled to the terrestrial communication network, for delivering service contents to the terrestrial communication network;
• and
• a satellite communication center, coupled to the earth station and the terrestrial communication network, for assigning a time zone to the service contents sent through the terrestrial communication network to deliver the service contents to the satellite through the earth station within the assigned time zone.

A method of carrying out multicast/broadcast communication through a terrestrial network and a digital broadcast network having a plurality of digital broadcast channels, comprising the steps of:

• providing, in a communication center, a program table which is accessible through the terrestrial network and which is representative of a time schedule of each program in the digital broadcast channels;
• and
• broadcasting information from the communication center through the digital broadcast network by assigning the digital broadcast channels in a time sharing manner in accordance with the program table.