Sky is planning to launch a triple play offering of TV, broadband and telephony towards the end of 2006, chief exec James Murdoch has revealed.

The firm is spending up to £1 billion on acquiring broadband and telephony assets as the foundations of its new service. It recently purchased internet provider Easynet and is now thought to be mulling a takeover of VOD broadcaster HomeChoice.

"Easynet really does give us the set of tools that we require to go out there and enter the marketplace for communication services and broadband services," Murdoch told investors Friday.

He added: "We expect rollout of a more robust set of [triple-play] services within the next calendar year, post-completion."