BEN VERWAAYEN, the chief executive of BT, announced yesterday that the telecoms group had struck a content deal with the Walt Disney Company, as it promised to launch its digital and internet pay-per-view television service early next month.

Mr Verwaayen, who has been criticised for the length of time that BT has taken to sign content deals for the new service, promised further agreements in the next few weeks as he told The Times that the launch of BT Vision would come well ahead of Christmas.

BT Vision is one of a range of strategies designed to offset a fall in revenue from BT’s traditional fixed-line business and to reduce customer churn in its broadband division.

The latest deal with Disney’s international distribution arm, Buena Vista International Television, will enable BT to show films such as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Memoirs of a Geisha and Scary Movie 4. More deals are expected in the next few weeks.

BT said that its video-on- demand deal with Walt Disney gave it rights to show films from Disney, Touchstone and Miramax.

Although the telecoms group said that BT Retail’s share of the total broadband market had fallen 0.16 per cent, some analysts have raised further concern about a fall in BT’s share of new customers.

It emerged yesterday that BT’s share of new broadband customers fell from 30 per cent to 25 per cent in the three months to September, as it fought to keep market share in the face of new broadband offerings from the likes of BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse. Mr Verwaayen said that he did not plan any price cuts to secure new customers. “It isn’t about lower prices,” he said. “It is about value and services.”

Shares in BT fell 2.3 per cent to 285p. Broadband is an increasingly important area for BT Retail, which continues to suffer from a decline in its traditional voice business. Mr Verwaayen said that although there had been a decline in voice calling, that was “not lethal” to the health of the company.

BT still managed a strong 26 per cent rise in its first-half pre-tax profits to £1.24 billion.

Mr Verwaayen said that he would consider further acquisitions in broadband, but would not comment on which companies he was eyeing.

The chief executive disagreed with recent speculation that the broadband market would eventually consolidate into two or three large players, with BT likely to be one. He said that British customers would continue to want a choice of numerous providers and that the market would remain competitive for the foreseeable future.

BT revenues rose 3.7 per cent to £4.94 billion in the three months to September 30. The half-year dividend is 5.1p, up 19 per cent on last year.

Mr Verwaayen said: “These results underpin our confidence in our ability to grow our revenue, ebitda, earnings per share and dividends this year.”

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