BT gets green light to go into TV

CHAIRMAN Sir Christopher Bland's ambitions to turn British Telecom into a broadcaster took another step forward today after it was awarded a licence by the Independent Television Commission.

Bland caused a stir at the start of the year when he said: 'At one extreme, we could be a fully integrated model like BSkyB.'

The former chairman of London Weekend Television and the BBC qualified his comments later, saying that broadcasting ranked third among BT's list of priorities after broadband and traditional telephony. He said BT had no plans to make its own programmes but would work in partnership with content providers.

He added that the move into broadcasting could take years. The ITC licence allows BT to provide television over traditional and broadband networks. It will test an initial service in 3,000 homes.

BT has long argued that it should be allowed to compete against cable companies NTL and Telewest, which have always been able to offer the 'triple play' of telephony, internet and television to their customers.