The battleground to win audiences of the future is a place where convergence is king - where content and delivery platforms are combined in the race to pin eyes to screens (whether those screens are mobile phone displays, PC monitors or broadband enabled TV sets).

In light of the recent announcement that NTL will now merge Virgin Mobile with its Internet, TV and telephone service, a recent article in Design Week evaluated BT's position as it braced itself to enter the video on-demand market.

"The most difficult task for BT in terms of brand perception could be the move from telco to entertainment portal. BT is still seen as a utility and it has a long way to go to change that.

I think the [video on-demand] market is in favour of media companies at the moment. People are looking for differentiated entertainment products. And it is more about entertainment branding that technologies. This is where the battle will be won.

Telcos have got the infrastructure but whether they can capitalise on it is the question. The delivery [of the product] by BT will be interesting. I think it will struggle.

The video on-demand market is where many people are focussing their differentiated efforts. It will be about content. This is an area where there is a lot of activity at the moment".

Mike Curtis, Managing director, Start Creative