The culture secretary has launched a public consultation on the future of the BBC.

Tessa Jowell set out the first stage of the corporation's charter renewal process on Thursday.

She outlined plans for the full input of the public's views into the review of the broadcaster's commission from parliament.

The culture, media and sport department also unveiled plans for the full charter renewal process which will include green and white papers before the current agreement expires in 2007.

The public consultation will take place online and through specially commissioned opinion research.

It will be the first time ordinary license fee payers will have been asked for their thoughts on the role and functions of the BBC.

Jowell said this was the right approach given the corporation's unique funding arrangement.

"Previous charter reviews have been conducted in a range of ways," she said.

"By the great and the good. By ministers and civil servants.

"But this review will be different. For the first time the driving force will be the British people.

"Through the licence fee, they are in effect the BBC's shareholders."

Jowell set out a series of questions that the public would be asked to comment on.

These include whether the BBC should run commercial services, how it should be funded and how the corporation should be regulated.

All are contentious issues following the expansion of the BBC's services into online and digital broadcasting and the establishment of the media regulator Ofcom which, so far, has not been asked to scrutinise the service.

The findings of the consultation will feed into the full review alongside Ofcom's review of public service broadcasting, the independent review of BBC online and forthcoming reviews of the BBC's new services.

A green paper is expected to be published at the end of next year.

Jowell has previously denied that the charter renewal process will be used to punish the BBC following the corporation's row with the government over Iraq and weapons of mass destruction intelligence reporting.