Broadcasting minister Kim Howells signalled in the House of Commons this week that the government may bow to pressure from the commercial sector to bring the BBC under Ofcom's remit.
The news follow comments from former culture secretary Chris Smith, an author of the communications white paper, who said he now believes that it could be in the interests of the UK public service broadcaster to be regulated by an independent authority.
Smith said: "I have had the opportunity to reflect further on these matters and I believe that that would make a substantial difference to the BBC's interests."
The comments are in stark contrast to the view he held when he was culture secretary, that the BBC's board of governors' core responsibilities should be preserved.
Howells told MPs debating the paving bill earlier this week that Smith's comments would be taken "very seriously". He said: "I am sure it will be debated when we discuss the main communications bill."
His comments add weight to recent speculation that culture secretary Tessa Jowell is looking to appease commercial broadcasters by giving the BBC the same level of regulatory scrutiny as commercial broadcasters, rather than its own board of governors.
The current communications white paper proposes three tiers of regulation. The first two create a level playing field between the BBC and other broadcasters. The third tier would see Ofcom intervene if a commercial broadcaster failed in its public service obligations. However, only the government would be allowed to intervene if the BBC failed in a similar way.
Smith's comments have been backed by shadow media secretary Tim Yeo and Labour MP Gerald Kaufman, chairman of the all-party media select committee.
Earlier this week, Yeo slammed the government's communications bill for failing to address key issues such as the digital switch over and the thorny issue of the BBC's regulation.
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