'This is the real Kerala story', says CM Pinarayi Vijayan at K-FON project launch

Vijayan said that Kerala is a state where the internet has been declared as a right of the people adding K-FON is the “popular alternative of the Kerala government against the corporate forces".

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has hailed the K-FON (Kerala Fibre Optic Network) in the state as the “real Kerala story” saying the state is implementing the project “in a country where the Internet is often banned”. The Kerala CM made the remarks while launching the K-FON project which aims to provide high-speed Internet to households, commercial institutions, and government offices throughout the state.

The Kerala CM launched the project at R Sankaranarayanan Thampi Hall of the Legislative Assembly. ''This is a real Kerala story, People will be freed from the exploitation of mobile companies. K-FON can provide internet at a cheaper rate than other service providers,” Vijayan said in an apparent dig at the recently released Bollywood film 'The Kerala Story' which was accused of propanda against Muslims.

While hailing the K-FON project, Vijayan said that the “dream project has come true” adding “Kerala is a state where the internet has been declared as a right of the people”. Vijayan said that K-FON is the “popular alternative of the Kerala government against the corporate forces”. As part of the initial phase of the project, K-FON will offer internet services to 14,000 households that are financially backward and 30,000 government offices.

On the occasion, KFON Commercial Website and the KFON Mobile App were launched by K.N. Venugopal, Minister of Finance and M.B. Rajesh, Minister of Excise, Local Self-Governments and Rural Development respectively. K.Krishnankutty, Minister of Electricity unveiled the KFON modem. During the launch, the Chief Minister also interacted with selected KFON subscribers from various backgrounds.

Based on the list submitted by the local self-governing bodies, the project will initially provide internet access to 100 houses in each legislative assembly constituency of the state. It is learnt that KFON has installed IT infrastructure capable of setting up 40 lakh internet connections across the state. Consumers can access internet services at a speed starting at 20 Mbps and can avail of connections of higher speed based on individual requirements.

Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited and Kerala State Electricity Board are jointly implementing this project. All BPL families would be given a free internet connection using K-FON. In the beginning, 100 BPL families from each Assembly constituency would be given the connection. The service provider would be selected through a tender process and the subsidised tariff would be decided after that.

A total of 2000 free Wi-Fi spots for public use and affordable Wi-Fi network facility in government offices are also part of KFON. The connection will be given first consideration to BPL category students and their houses. The biggest promise of the government is the free KFON connection for about 20 lakh economically backward families.

The connection tariff provided on a commercial basis will be available in the KFON app. Various service providers can avail of the KFON fibre network at affordable rates. This is one of the income streams of KFON. Dr Santhosh Babu IAS (Retd) Principle Secretary/Managing Director KSITL & KFON said that KFON is a “milestone in Kerala’s digitalisation”.

“The primary objective of the project is to establish widespread, high-speed internet connectivity at an affordable rate, with the ultimate goal of providing internet access to all individuals and Government Institutions. The introduction of the K-FON project will propel Kerala's internet revolution to unprecedented heights, fostering further advancements in the state.

He also expressed his deep sense of privilege in being associated with an initiative that strives to ensure that every member of society is equipped to embrace the digital realm, effectively unifying the entire society in its pursuit of progress,” he added. At present, KFON has been successfully installed in 26,492 government offices, of which 17,354 offices have live internet access.

According to KFON officials, internet connectivity will be made available to all government offices by the end of June as per the provided list. As of now, KFON has more than 1000 household subscribers and installation of cables for over 7000 connections has been completed. On completion of the initial phase of the project by August 2023, the project will be expanded to setting up commercial connections.

It is estimated that 2,50,000 commercial connections will be provided in the first year, which could facilitate the profitability of the project. The K-FON, once completed will have a 30,000-kilometre-long fibre optic cable route length. It would high-speed internet connectivity to 5000 government offices and 25,000 government institutions apart from giving free or subsidised connectivity to the people of Kerala.

K-FON is considered a huge step to transform Kerala into a knowledge economy and for digital empowerment. Kerala government considers internet access as a basic right in the new world order. The government has studied the need to have better internet penetration to deliver e-governance services. The Covid pandemic also underlined the importance of digital connectivity as Kerala rolled out a successful online classroom experience when the schools had to shut down due to Covid.

This project, the government hopes, would obviate the digital divide and would act as an information super-highway.