Broadly, the commission is looking for answers to four questions:

--What are acceptable Internet traffic management practices; --Should ISPs disclose their traffic practices;--Does the use of Internet technologies for the purpose of Internet traffic management raise privacy concerns;--Is there a need for the commission to specify what practices are acceptable for wireless carriers?

Providers believe they're in a bind: No matter how much they spend expanding capacity to meet demand, they say, it's never enough.

In its written submission, for example, Telus says "Canada's carriers are investing billions in broadband wireline and wireless infrastructure to meet their customers' ever-growing appetite for data services ... However, the threat of new regulation that could eliminate competitive differentiation or unduly restrict the ability to recover network investments can stifle those investments just when they are needed most, to the lasting detriment of Canada's economy and society."

This assertion upsets critics who say the operators aren't providing conclusive proof. At least one submission to the CRTC complains some operators are giving such details to the commission, but only privately, which restricts their ability to reply.