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NEW DELHI: Trai chief Rahul Khullar on Friday said there should be “no blocking” and “throttling or de-grading” of the internet by telecom operators, a statement coming at a time when the regulator is firming up recommendations on the crucial issue net neutrality and ways to manage over-the-top (OTT) services and internet applications. Khullar said “there can be no debate” on areas which affect the delivery of internet to the masses. Speaking at a debate on net neutrality and the future of digital India, organized by the O P Jindal University, the Trai chief — who will demit office by middle of this month — pitched for “transparency” in managing of internet traffic by telecom operators. “If you do traffic management, there must be public disclosure and transparency so that you are not abusing authority in the garb of traffic management.”The issue of net neutrality took centre-stage after Trai issued a consultation paper on managing OTT operators Bharti Airtel ’s aborted attempt to charge higher for applications that provide voice services and a plan to create a special platform that provides preferential treatment for applications that pay for it further intensified the debate.The regulator has received numerous petitions that have pitched for neutrality over the internet and equal access to all types of services and applications.Industry lobby grouping Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has said that internet applications that provide voice services, such as Skype, Viber and WhatsApp, should be brought under a licensing regime just like the telecom operators, or else data prices would need to go up manifold.Apart from Trai, the issue of net neutrality is also being studied by an internal committee of the Department of Telecom. Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has already thrown his weight behind ensuring the maintenance of net neutrality. “We feel that Internet is one of the finest creations of the human mind. It should have linkages with the common man in a non-discriminatory manner,” he has said earlier.Khullar said Trai’s consultation did not have any intention to look at ways to control the internet. “Anybody in their right mind would not try to regulate and police the internet… But there are problems and issues that you need to grapple with.”Some of the areas which are being actively looked at include the issue of having some regulatory regime for applications that are providing voice and SMS services, Khullar said. “They are in the same business as the telecom operators… If they are no different, then should be a level-playing field?”Khullar also questioned the government’s ambitious digital India programme (national optical fibre network or NOFN) through which it aims to connect as many as 2.5 lakh villages over the internet. “We could not provide power and water in 40 years, how can you provide broadband?” the Trai chief said, terming the plan as “good for dreams”.