The British government has said part of the country's television licence fee could be ring-fenced to pay for public service programmes on non-BBC channels.
This could amount to £130m a year from 2013 for ITV local news, shows for children and other important but less profitable programming.
The proposal formed part of the British government's wide-ranging Digital Britain report, which made recommendations on everything from bringing broadband to rural areas to supporting the UK's computer games industry.
Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw told MPs that a 'small levy' would be established on all fixed telephone lines to establish an independent national fund to ensure 'maximum next generation broadband coverage'.
Mr Bradshaw also said Britain intended to upgrade all its national radio stations from analogue to digital by 2015. The British government will also legislate to curb unlawful 'peer-to-peer file-sharing' of digital content.
