Skype, the internet telecoms company owned by eBay, today moved closer to becoming a major platform for digital content and hinted it could soon offer online video services.

Underscoring how rapidly the media landscape is shifting, the news came the day after BT revealed that it will move into television next summer. The telecoms group will launch a set-top box that will enable users to download programmes over broadband internet lines.

Skype's foray into content distribution starts today with the launch of Personalise Skype, a feature that means that callers can receive and send pictures, sounds and ringtones over the Skype network.

Skype users are able to make free phone calls between themselves by downloading free software. The company was bought by eBay earlier this month in a deal that could reach $4.1 billion (£2.3bn) if Skype hits its profit targets.

Saul Klein, Skype’s vice-president of marketing, told Times Online: "We are starting with ringtones but we would not discount any possibilities. Part of the message we want to send out is that Skype is open for business and that people, third parties, can work with Skype to provide content."

Skype also announced the full release of a call-forwarding service that allows people to forward free internet calls to mobile phones or a conventional landline for 1p a minute.

The service will be offered at that rate in 25 countries worldwide. There is also a new desktop toolbar that lets users click on numbers in Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Outlook and be connected to them.

Ringtones might be just a "first move" into content for Skype, but they are a significant market in their own right. The global ringtone market alone is forecast to grow to $5.2 billion in 2006. Ringtones now account for more than 10 per cent of the $32.3 billion worldwide music market, according to industry estimates.

Skype will profit by sharing revenues with its content-providing partners which will initially include American Greetings, Qpass and Wee World. The company has so far made money by offering premium services such as voicemail on top of free calls. EBay also wants to wrap Skype's technology into its own auction site. It is to explore advertising models where its clients pay for sales leads via Skype calls.

However, Skype also appears to be be moving towards becoming a platform for online video content in a move that could eventually see it square up against conventional television companies.

Mr Klein said that video services had been discussed within Skype and suggested the company would unveil further new services in the next few months.

"Today’s announcement is a first step and we will have more announcements before the end of the year," he said. "This new feature opens up a new and exciting market for content providers looking to deliver applications to Skype’s global callers."

Skype could offer a massive audience for content producers. Since its launch in August 2003, its software has been downloaded more than 174 million times in 225 countries and territories.

Around 56 million people are registered to use Skype's free services, with more than 3 million people using Skype simultaneously at any one time, according to the company.

Other internet companies have already suggested they aim to rival traditional broadcasters such as ITV and the BBC. Google and Yahoo! already have online video search services.

Earlier this month, Terry Semel, the chief executive of Yahoo!, said he wanted to develop a global internet television network, and invited British broadcasters to provide programmes that his company could distribute.

"I should assume that we will commission our own programming," he said. "What will it look like? I don’t think it will look like broadcast — that’s too good. It has to have its own personality."

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