Any threat to open access to the internet would be "a hazard to innovation" and a deterrent to investment, one of the founding fathers of the internet has warned.

Vint Cerf, Google's vice-president and chief internet evangelist, said in a video interview for FT.com that the internet's capacity to cope with an ever-growing number of users and amount of content carried over the network was a lesser issue than security, stability, reliability and privacy.

"The most important thing is to make sure we have a secure and stable network. There are ways to attack the system which we need to defend against," he said.

Weighing into the debate about "net neutrality", Mr Cerf said he hoped it was more likely that the internet would remain open than that broadband providers would move to block applications that use large amounts of bandwidth or discriminate between content providers.

However, he warned: "If we ever move into a regime where the providers of basic internet services have control over what users or entrepreneurs can put on the network then I seea potential hazard toinnovation."

He urged regulators around the world to recognise "the importance of keeping the network open and generally neutral, and allowing the entrepreneurs to try out their ideas".

Mr Cerf, who in the 1970s helped create the TCP/IP protocols on which internet communication is based, said that if the use of the internet were to be controlled by "monopoly broadband providers", the investments in data centres and other infrastructure necessary to expand its reach would not be made. "No one would be willing to make any investment at all because they wouldn't have access to the net in such a way as to make a return," he said.

Mr Cerf, who joined Google two years ago, has acted as an adviser to its senior management when evaluating acquisitions and investments in new technologies, and spends time with research engineers "explaining what research problems need to be answered".

After addressing the Edinburgh International Television Festival this week, Mr Cerf argued that media companies would begin to see more consumers willing to pay for their content online.

"I do think that as time goes on, the consumer will understand the value of the content and be willing to pay," he said. "But herewe still have some education to do."