LONDON (Reuters) - The governing body of Britain's state-owned broadcaster the BBC has provisionally backed its involvement in Internet TV project Canvas, despite the objections of rival BSkyB which says the BBC's involvement would distort the market.

The BBC Trust said yesterday it would consult with industry participants and the public until February 2 before making its final conclusions, but said the likely public value of Canvas probably outweighed any potential negative impact on the market.

"After careful consideration, the Trust has provisionally concluded that Canvas is likely to benefit licence fee payers," Diane Coyle, chair of the Trust's Strategic Approvals Committee, said in a statement.

"We believe Canvas could be an important part of the way in which the BBC delivers its services in the future."

BSkyB said in a statement the BBC was exceeding its public-service remit.

"The key concern with Canvas is the leading role that the BBC wants to take in the project," Sky's Director of Corporate Affairs Graham McWilliam said. "This is nothing short of BBC mission creep."

Project Canvas — a proposed venture of the BBC, commercial broadcasters ITV, Channel 4 and Five, and telecoms firms BT and TalkTalk — aims to strengthen free-to-air broadcasters in the Internet age.

It plans to allow viewers to download programmes from the Internet — including the BBC's popular iPlayer catch-up service — via a set-top box to their television, as well as to access websites from their TV.

BSkyB says it would benefit only the limited number of participants in Project Canvas and exclude others in the industry, and goes beyond the BBC's core public-service remit.