Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has inaugurated the States' "Kerala Fibre Optic Network" (KFON) project on Monday. The network aims to provide free internet connections to 20 lakh below-poverty-line families.
An official announcement states that the project will first give 100 homes in each state legislative assembly district internet connection. The internal IT infrastructure of K-FON can set approximately 40 lakh internet connections throughout the state. As per the statement, customers can access internet services starting at 20 Mbps and can choose connections with higher speeds depending on their needs.
The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, once declared, "Kerala's dream has now become a reality." With the beginning of this endeavour, everyone will have access to the internet. We are the first state to define access to the internet as a fundamental right for all residents, but we are really creating it.
The chief minister also said that while public institutions across the nation are being sold to the private sector, public institutions have helped Kerala's digital infrastructure grow.
"K-FON is a government-sponsored project. This is at a time when the public sector institutions in the country are being sold to private. We are aware of what is happening to BSNL, and VSNL will likely experience a similar fate. Look at LIC now; they're attempting to undermine it. The New Kerala is being marked by increased public investment in Kerala's digital infrastructure, the chief minister said.
K-FON has currently been launched successfully in 26,492 government offices, 17,354 of which have live internet connection. All government offices will have internet connectivity by the end of June, according to K-FON officials, who provided a list. K-FON currently has more than 1000 residential subscribers, and cables have been installed for more than 7000 connections.
By August 2023, the project's initial phase will be finished, and then it will be expanded to include creating business ties. 2,50,000 commercial connections are anticipated to be made available in the first year, which could aid in the project's financial success.
