Kerala Launches KFON, Becomes India’s First State to Provide Internet Services
Last week, the Kerala government declared its intention to introduce the Kerala Fibre Optic Network (KFON) in the state, with the goal of providing free internet services to over 20 lakh BPL families. The project has now been officially launched, and according to reports, 7000 families have already received free internet access. This initiative was first proposed by the ruling party four years ago, with the aim of making internet access a basic right in Kerala. Kerala is also the first state in India to have its own internet service. The scheme will provide each household with 1.5 GB of data per day at a speed of 15 Mbps.
The service is not just for families, as according to a report by The Hindu, more than 30,000 government organizations, which include offices, educational institutions and hospitals, have access to KFON. The first phase of the project is almost over and it marks the moment, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has officially launched the internet service in the state. But the question arises how the government will be able to provide free internet to the masses. Let’s take a closer look.
How does the Internet service work?
The ambitious project required quite extensive groundwork to build the infrastructure. Reports indicate that the government has built adequate infrastructure in remote parts of the country and ensured that no area is left too far from its benefits. Once the infrastructure was built, the cables were pulled into the fiber network. According to reports, around 34,000 kilometers of cables have been laid across the state.
In July 2022, the Ministry of Communications (DoT) granted KFON both an Infrastructure Provider (IPL) license and approved it as an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Who benefits from it?
The state aimed to provide free internet access to 20,000 BPL households by the end of the project. In the first phase, 14,000 families were selected as candidates, of which 7,000 families received it. To select recipients for Phase 1, all 140 constituencies had to submit a list of 100 BPL families.
The entire KFON internet service is not free
It should be noted that KFON as a whole is not free. Providing free Internet access to BPL households and government organizations is just one part of the entire network that has been kept free. In the second step, the government rents the unused fiber network to generate income.
“The second stage is the commercialization of the network. Fixed connections and dark fibers, the remaining unused fibers, will become the main sources of income. We have a total of 48 fibers, of which 22 will be used by KFON. Some of them will be used by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB),” Santhosh Babu said. “The rest can be rented out,” K-FON CEO told The Hindu.
Next steps
Mere access to the Internet is not enough. There is already a Digital Literacy program which gives the panchayat knowledge to access various services on the Internet. The same is expected to be transmitted from the panchayats to the people of every village, bringing about change at the grass root level.
