-British telco BT’s (NYSE: BT) CEO Ben Verwaayen will step down after six years on June 1, to be replaced by Ian Livingston, CEO of the BT Retail division. Verwaayen has presided over the full emergence of the company in to the commercial sphere after what was once a state monopoly. Recently knighted, his tenure marked by BT’s status as UK broadband market leader and the roll-out of the BT Vision IPTV service over ADSL, after period during which regulation blocked the incumbent telco from launching a TV service.

In fact, both those products have fallen under Livingston’s retail watch, so his appointment at the top points both to continuity and digital media. Livingston joined from Dixons as finance director in 2002 and will be replaced by Gavin Patterson, MD of the consumer division.