Ricky Gervais shoots an ad for Optus to announce their partnership with Netflix.

IT’S an issue that has engulfed the US but comments made today by Optus chief Allan Lew could ignite the net neutrality debate in Australia.

Net neutrality is the principle that all internet traffic should be treated equally and as such internet providers cannot prioritise certain content over others. The absence of net neutrality would mean ISPs could essentially divide the internet into lanes with different speeds, forcing businesses to pay more for the fast lane. The end result would essentially create an uneven playing field and could drive internet prices upwards.

The issue has been largely non existent in Australia but speaking at the CommsDay conference in Sydney today, Mr Lew spoke of a desire for Australia’s second largest Telco company to establish a premium service to be offered to “over the top providers” such as Netflix.

Mr Lew told journalists at the event that companies such as Netflix and other streaming services must “understand they need to work collaboratively with Optus to preserve network quality.”

While the Optus CEO did stress the company would “preserve net neutrality,” he said the company is exploring the possibility of offering a premium service which could be provided to content providers for a potential fee.

Netflix is an outspoken supporter of net neutrality and has continually fought to preserve the principle in overseas markets.

Last week the company said it would not enter into future unmetered data arrangements with Australian ISPs because they were at odds with the idea of net neutrality.

Following the launch of Netfilx in Australia, iiNet users reported a slower than usual service as the ISP struggled to cope with the high rate of usage.

While the comment from the Optus chief speaks to addressing such a problem, detractors of the idea believe it will unfairly damage the democratic and open nature of the internet.

"We will continue to preserve net neutrality but we're talking about the possibility ... [of] a premium service" Err wot??? — Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) April 20, 2015