As many as 14,000 households in Kerala will soon get free broadband internet connectivity under the Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON), a flagship initiative of the Left Front government aimed at providing free internet to 20 lakh financially weak households.
The state-owned K-FON recently got the Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence from the Centre, making Kerala the first state government to get an ISP licence.
Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited director Santhosh Babu told DH that as soon as the local bodies submit the list of beneficiaries, the connections could be provided swiftly as 80 per cent of the statewide network is already in place. Already, infrastructure for connectivity to up to one lakh households is also in place. It would be expanded in due course, he said.
Initially, the connection will be provided to 100 households in each of 140 Assembly constituencies in the state with a speed of 15 Mbps. Up to 150 GB of data usage would be provided free of cost.
During the Covid lockdown, Kerala witnessed many students in remote parts of the state struggling for internet connectivity for e-learning. K-FON plans to address this issue also.
Babu said that in remote areas like tribal hamlets, tower-based wireless connectivity would be set up.
K-FON also plans to generate around Rs 400 crore in revenue through various means like leasing out the dark fibre lines to private parties and offering paid internet connectivity. A monetisation plan will be finalised soon by the government. Hence, he said that further network expansion could be possible without causing an additional financial burden to the state exchequer.
Already 26,000 state government offices are connected to K-FON. The project would strengthen the e-office network of the state.
Published 17 July 2022, 15:43 IST