The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is meeting this week to discuss the proposed fees which big Canadian networks want to charge to smaller cable and satellite companies for carrying their signals. The meeting will be chaired by CRTC head Konrad von Finckenstein, and might just change the face of the Canadian television services.

The proposed fees would amount to nearly 50% a month "per network, per subscriber", and would be passed on to consumers in the form of a higher cable bill at the end of the month. While this has created unrest among users, the networks have their own reasons and are firmly sticking to their grounds.

While a last decision is yet to be taken, Mr. Finckenstein seems to be sympathizing with Canadian TV watchers. On Monday, he was quoted as saying, "I don't know why you two don't realize it's in your long-run interests to come to some solution, rather than scaring the daylights out of Canadians".

The whole nation is now eagerly looking forward to this week's meeting and awaiting a decision, which experts believe should be taken with the end viewers in mind.