Canada's broadcast and telecom regulator held a public hearing Monday about the manner in which large Internet companies charge their smaller competitors to use their networks.

At the start of the hearing, CRTC chair Konrad van Finckenstein said the commission is looking only at wholesale retail prices that smaller providers pay for network use and not retail rates being charged to customers.

Representatives from Bell Aliant Regional Communications and Bell Canada were among the first participants to speak at the hearing.

Tom Little, wholesale president from Bell Canada (which owns CTV), said that economics matter most in any decision the CRTC makes.

"The solution is to ensure that those who use the most pay the most. That just makes economic sense," he said.

That position is also held by Rogers, which will speak during the hearings on Tuesday.

But consumer advocates say the telecoms are simply trying to discourage Canadians from using the Internet to watch movies and TV shows.

"They are trying to raise prices on the Internet to push people to stay on television," said advocate Steve Anderson.

During the hearing Monday, van Finckenstein asked pointed questions to Bell representatives about the prices the company is looking to charge.

"Was it just picked out of the blue?" van Finckenstein asked.

But Bell maintains that the prices are simply reflective of the reality in the marketplace.

"The notion of extraordinary profits in this segment of the business is a bit of a stretch," said Mirko Bibic, chief of regulatory affairs at Bell.

Telus, meanwhile, has said that it supports a flat-rate for Internet use, making it an anomaly among the large providers.

The CRTC says that 94 per cent of Canadians get their Internet service from large companies, while the remaining six per cent rely on small or independent Internet providers.

These smaller companies typically buy access to larger companies' networks at wholesale prices, which have been regulated by the CRTC for some time.

In recent years, some larger companies have argued that their networks should not be clogged by a small number of heavy users who receive no-limit service from smaller providers.

And in January, the CRTC ruled that the larger companies would be forced to impose additional charges on smaller providers whose customers are exceeding their monthly download limits.

But the smaller companies complained that the CRTC ruling would harm their business, because they charge their flat rate to have unlimited access to the web.

Under pressure from industry, the public and Ottawa, the CRTC subsequently announced that it would review its January decision.

Part of that review included online consultations that wrapped up last month, as well as the public hearing that began Monday morning.

The public hearings, held in Gatineau, Que., are expected to continue into next week. The government has said that any decision that fails to offer more competition will be overruled.

With a report by CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife and files from The Canadian Press