IN four years as chief executive of BT, Ben Verwaayen has done much to change the group’s image. But he knows that for many people BT is still just a phone company.

“Inevitably, there’s an embedded memory,” he said last week. “The black phone in grandma’s hallway: ‘You can use the phone but keep it short . . .’”

Such sepia-tinted recollections are hopelessly out of date. The publication of BT’s annual results on Thursday will show that voice calls now generate less than 10% of its revenues of almost £20 billion a year.

The broadband revolution, the growth of internet telephony, and a fast-growing IT- services business is changing BT out of all recognition.

That transformation — a favourite Verwaayen word — will take another step forward this year when BT launches its own broadband television service, BT Vision.

Using a set-top box made by Philips, BT Vision will offer all the 30 or so channels available on Freeview, along with an extensive range of “on-demand” movie, music and other programming. BT will this week announce new content partners to add to a list that includes Paramount Pictures, BBC Worldwide, Warner Music, Cartoon Network and others.

But conventional programming such as this is only part of the promise of internet television. With the Philips box and using Microsoft software, BT Vision will bring many of the capabilities of the computer to television.

That will allow viewers to chat with their friends about the programme they are watching, either by instant messaging or by making a video call.

“If I watch a football match,” said Verwaayen, “why do I have to listen to a pundit? With voice-over IP in your television set, you can shout to your friends and cheer your team together.”

No longer will you have to wait until you get to work, or school, to discuss the latest stunning idiocy in The Apprentice, or a plot twist in Lost. You can talk to your friends from your sofa, without even picking up your mobile phone.

The set-top box, which will also double as a personal video recorder à la Sky+, will watch what you watch, and recommend similar programmes. “It will learn what you like,” said Verwaayen, “and make suggestions: ‘If you like this, you will probably like that.’”

This intelligence opens up the possibility of targeted advertising, thus avoiding wasted spending. Verwaayen said: “If I like cooking, it’s not worth showing me ads for lots of pre-cooked sauces because I like to make them myself.”

Drawing a parallel with blogs (online diaries), Verwaayen believes the biggest impact of broadband television will be to make it easier for people to make and share their own content, such as video diaries.

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