Groups like the producers and Pelmorex insist operators be forbidden from engaging in discriminatory traffic shaping.

However in its submission Telus, a Vancouver-based telco which doesn't do any traffic management, argues that the federal Telecommunications Act already forbids unjust discrimination.

Small wonder that CRTC chairman Konrad von Finkenstein recently said that when the commission sponsored an online forum earlier this year on traffic management it sparked a "lively debate."

The hearings will likely be at least that.

In addition to the dozens of written submissions the commission has received, 28 companies or groups will testify over six days including Internet operators, network equipment maker Juniper Networks, Canadian traffic management switch manufacturer Sandvine and consumer organizations.