Thiruvananthapuram, May 29: Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the Rs. 1,500 crores Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) project to provide free internet connectivity to the poor and to others at an affordable rate will be rolled out by December. He said this after a meeting today with the head of companies of the consortium executing the project.
The consortium consists of public sector companies, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Railtel, and private companies such as SRIT and LS Cables. A joint venture between Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited and KSEB are implementing the K-FON project. Optical fibre cables are being laid using KSEB posts to give connection to customers.
Addressing the media, the Chief Minister said, “Kerala is the first state to declare the Internet as a fundamental right of the citizen. As part of this, the K-FON project was launched to provide quality internet free to the poor and to others at affordable rates. No other state in India has implemented such a scheme. Despite the delay due to the lockdown, M V Gautam, CMD of consortium leader BEL, has promised to complete the project by December this year. Other stakeholders in the consortium have also agreed to this. The completion of this project will be a great benefit to Kerala. The IT department is monitoring the progress of the project. The Government has requested all stakeholders of the Consortium to participate in the development of Kerala and invest in it.”
The K-FON network will provide internet connectivity to schools, hospitals, government offices and other public institutions. The project will be a catalyst for the knowledge-based economy envisioned by the State. This will also spur efforts to attract industrial investments to Kerala.
The importance and relevance of the Internet will grow in the post-Covid scenario. The use of the Internet in sectors such as education and banking will greatly increase. K-Fon will be a major support for the government’s efforts to develop Kerala as the world’s leading industrial, educational and tourism destination”, the CM added.