In a speech to the Royal Television Society last night the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, talked publicly for the first time about 'Project Barcelona' - a new download service that will allow people to buy and own BBC programmes for a "relatively-modest" charge. This fee is thought to be about £1.89 a show but more on that in a moment.

According to the BBC website, Thompson also said that:

• UK producers would need to give their support to the project
• The BBC intended to open up a "digital shop" for downloads
• Other existing providers (e.g. Lovefilm, Netflix etc.) would also be able to buy the content
• And that more and more programmes from the BBC archive would be added to the service

"It could mark an important step in broadcast's journey from being a transitory medium into a growing body of outstanding and valuable content which is always available to enjoy and which persists forever," he added.

Sounds good but here are some questions - and possible answers - about how it's going to work and what consumers, competitors and partners alike will make of the new service.

#1. What nature of "digital shop" will the BBC launch?

So, it sounds like this is going to be TVOD (transactional video-on-demand) as opposed to SVOD (subscription video-on-demand). In other words, customers will buy specific pieces of content rather paying a view-all monthly fee. If that's the case the BBC could launch an iTunes-style store, a 'wallet' solution which consumers use to deposit and top-up funds, a simple credit-card payment facility, a link to an existing payment services provider or indeed some, as yet unknown, pioneering micropayments functionality.

#2. Will bought content work across different platforms and devices?

The answer to this question is very much linked to #1 above. iTunes, for example, serves as a shop front, a gateway and a media player in that it's used to buy content, play content and sync that content to different devices like the iPhone and iPad. It's easy to see how the BBC's service could work along similar lines. An alternative is to use the Ultraviolet model - a library which stores digital proofs of purchase and is then "called" by an end-device to verify that the viewer has the rights to watch a movie or a show. The added flexibility here (one BBC account may serve a whole family) may make it more attractive. Of course the BBC could just integrate with Ultraviolet itself and save itself the trouble of reinventing the wheel.

#3. Why do UK licence-fee payers have to pay again at all?

Mark Thompson described Project Barcelona as "not a second licence-fee by stealth or any reduction in the current public service offering from the BBC - it's the exact analogy of going into a high-street shop to buy a DVD or, before that, a VHS cassette.

"For decades the British public has understood the distinction between watching Dad's Army on BBC1 and then going out to buy a permanent copy of it. Barcelona is the digital equivalent of doing the second."

You can understand why Thompson chose to frame the argument this way. As consumers we do expect to pay for content if we want to own it permanently (unless we record it to PVR / DVD / videotape at the point of broadcast) but, for me, this is a false analogy.

As UK licence-fee payers we've already paid for BBC shows once and up until now, the limitations of technology have meant that if we wanted to see a programme again we'd either to have to wait for it to be repeated or go and buy our own copy. With on-demand viewing a reality however, the mechanics have completely changed: the BBC can now deliver programmes to viewers wherever and whenever they want them.

As the BBC's own website says:

"All licence fee payers, wherever they are, expect to be able to get the programmes they want, when they want them. And there is an ever-increasing number of platforms and devices on which people expect to be able to access BBC content. The Trust has set the BBC the aim of ensuring that every household has convenient access to all relevant BBC services, free at the point of use. This means the BBC must invest in new technology as platforms develop and yet make careful choices to ensure that audiences are served fairly and that the BBC keeps its primary focus on investing in high-quality content."

The crucial phrase in the above quote is "free at the point of use". We're still using this content so why isn't it still free?

#4. What does this do to the retail chain?

HMV, Amazon, WHSmith and many of the other big retailers must be a little worried. DVD sales were already declining worldwide (in the US for example the Digital Entertainment Group reported sales down a staggering 20% in 2010) and now the BBC is launching its own service which may eventually bypass the retail chain altogether. So how big a hit to their revenues could this be?

"Despite a challenging market," says the BBC website "BBC Worldwide's DVD business performed extremely well in the UK, finishing 2010 as the UK's fifth-largest distributor and outperforming the market in the US, where overall DVD sales declined".

Sales of "consumer products" - DVDs, download-to-own products, books and music - generated an increase in profits of 13.7% to £234.8m.

#5. What will the service's new brand name be?

'Project Barcelona' is surely a working title so what will the BBC's brand name for the new service be? It's got to be i-something right?

Any suggestions? Send to your friends and share your thoughts below!

Note: here's more information about Project Barcelona that the BBC published on Friday:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2012/03/project_barcelona_download_itunes.html