Skype to launch Web TV

“At the time we launched Skype, broadband capacity was extremely ripe for communication,” Mr Friis recalls. “Now, three years later, it’s the same thing for video: you can do TV over the internet in a really good way. TV is a huge medium – that’s something we’d like to be a part of.”

There are profound differences between Skype and the still-codenamed Venice Project, however. The entrepreneurs’ new venture is just one of many seeking to capitalise on the growth in demand for online video.

Crucially, this time they will also have to work with the incumbents whose business models have been most threatened by the internet if the project is going to succeed.