The BBC's Mark Thompson has said that the BBC aims to launch an international commercial version of the iPlayer within the year.

"Within a year we aim to launch an international commercial version of the iPlayer," said the BBC director general at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival.

Thompson then followed up those comments with further news in his keynote speech that:

"We also want to find a way of letting UK licence fee payers and servicemen and women use the UK iPlayer wherever they are in the world."

Currently the BBC iPlayer is only available to UK residents in the UK with visitors outside the UK Internet world barred from accessing the service.

Thompson held back however from detailing how the service would work, or whether it would it would be a chargeable offering outside of the UK.

We will keep you posted.

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