The BBC is considering radical plans to charge for access to TV and radio programmes such as Today and EastEnders on the internet, in a move that questions the long-term viability of the licence fee.

Ashley Highfield, the BBC's director of new media, said the cost of putting all the BBC's programmes online could run to billions of pounds and could not be supported by revenue from the current licence fee.

BBC Online, one of the world's most successful internet sites, is entirely free and regarded as part of the BBC's public service remit.

Many programmes - including news broadcasts such as Newsnight - can be downloaded after they are broadcast, and the BBC may eventually want to extend the service to entertainment shows. But charging users for access to BBC programmed on the web would be highly controversial.

The BBC stressed yesterday that Mr Highfield's remarks did not represent BBC policy yet. But the issue of future BBC funding, resolved only temporarily when the licence fee was increased to fund digital services after a review in 1999, will come under scrutiny when the corporation's charter comes up for renewal in 2006.

Mr Highfield raised the prospect of charging internet users in an interview with the Financial Times, pointing out that half of BBC Online's 10m users come from overseas and have not paid any licence fee.

"The increasing cost of distribution to the BBC is an issue. If all the BBC's content was streamed on the web it could cost billions of pounds."

He suggested that licence-fee payers could be given free "credit" to view or listen to material on the web, but conceded that once the credit ran out, they would have to pay for more.

"The licence fee could give viewers a certain amount of credit and once that credit has run out they would have to top it up," Mr Highfield said.

If approved, the plan could cast doubt on the viability of the BBC's funding arrangements, implying the £2.4bn it makes from the licence fee each year is not enough to give people unlimited access to BBC material on TV and online.

The proposal has angered the internet industry, represented by the British Internet Publishers' Alliance. BBC Online has long been the target of Bipa criticism over its increasing commercial activities.

Rob Hersov, the Bipa chairman, said: "The BBC can't be serious about this. If it is we all may as well pack up and leave the internet now."

Last year, the BBC spent £73m on digital development, £32m of that on BBC Online.