"Is every data packet the same and should we be even-handedly democratic in our approach or is that an issue for retail service providers to differentiate their service by quality, price or functionality in an increasingly diverse market?" Dr Switkowski asked.

"I think NBN has to be part of the debate because it is our network; we can observe the traffic patterns and we are inextricably bonded to the success of the retail service providers and to serving our end users through them," he told Fairfax Media.

However, the NBN chairman declined to voice his opinion on which side of the argument was in the right.

"Because of the unique position we have in terms of understanding the traffic patterns and having a dialogue with everybody in the industry over time, we should develop a position," he said. "I would expect our minister to look to us for input into his policy thinking.

"We don't yet have a sense of where the RSPs want to end up themselves because we haven't had an organised consultation. Until that happens I'd be getting ahead of that debate [and] the board and executive of NBN have not spent time worrying about it. But we can see the issue coming at us."