The BBC Trust is expected to make a decision on February 21 over controversial proposals to place advertising on BBC.com, the international version of its website.
BBC News Interactive staff were told in a team briefing this week that the decision is expected next week and that management are aiming to start running ads on BBC.com by this summer.
The proposals have already been agreed by the corporation's executive board, despite concerns from staff and members of the National Union of Journalists that the move could undermine the corporation's editorial independence.
Around 50% of the BBC's web traffic is from outside the UK. The cost of handling that international traffic is currently met by the UK licence fee, an issue that the BBC has said it needs to address.
Leaked details from a report commissioned for the BBC laid out three levels of commercialisation for BBC.com and put potential revenue between £48m and £105m per year.
More than 200 staff signed a petition against the proposals last summer. Twenty of those, including several senior editorial staff, signed a formal letter to the BBC Trust in January this year in which they outlined their concerns.
The letter included the views of technical staff, who were concerned that the BBC's IT infrastructure would struggle to cope with the technology needed to introduce adverts, and that the extra work could impact other projects such as the introduction of the domestic iPlayer.
Last week, acting the BBC Trust chair, Chitra Bharucha, replied to the letter and said those concerns would be brought to the attention of the trustees.
"The trust has a duty to act in the best interest of the licence fee payer and to ensure that the regulation and independence of the BBC is protected, and indeed enhanced," she wrote.
"The new BBC agreement sets a clear framework for consideration of new commercial service proposals. It will be for members of the trust to consider management's proposal in this context."
Management has been running roadshows for BBC News Interactive staff to explain the proposals in more detail and the BBC global director of news, Richard Sambrook, is due to meet NUJ representatives in March to further address staff's concerns.
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