"That doesn't mean we don't discuss them, but you can start to overplay the importance of the network itself. What we need to focus on is how we use it."

Dr Warren Harch, deputy chief defence scientist at the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) added that the issue had received attention at various stages within Government, but that a "default position" of Neutral had to be accepted.

"Except that we haven't made that statement," Google's Noble rebutted. "In the US, the Government has come out and said it should be neutral. We have arrived at that conclusion from a regulatory or legislative standpoint here? No we have not."

NICTA's Skellern added that while statements should be made by the Federal Government on Net Neutrality, insisting on it now could lead to a 'bottleneck' in the NBN's roll out.

"I'm quite concerned that the way this has been approached from many quarters is that it is just going to lead to a slowdown," he said. "It will be the bottleneck to us getting the [NBN] out there."