Kerala becomes India’s first state to have internet service with KFON; 4 things to know
Earlier last week, the Kerala government announced that it will launch Kerala Fibre Optic Network (KFON) soon in the state with an aim to provide free internet services to more than 20 lakh BPL families. And now, the project has become a reality as KFON has been officially announced and as many as 7000 families have already got access to free internet, as per reports. The launch comes four years after the ruling party announced that access to the internet would be a basic right in the state of Kerala. It is also the first state in India to have its own internet service. Under the scheme, every household will get 1.5 GB of data per day at the speed of 15 Mbps.
The service is not just for households as more than 30,000 government institutions that include offices, educational institutions, and hospitals will also get the KFON connection, as per a report by The Hindu. The first phase of the project is almost at its end and marking the moment, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has officially launched the internet service in the state. But the question that arises is how is the government able to afford free internet for the masses. Let us take a closer look.
The ambitious project requires fairly significant groundwork in order to set up the infrastructure. Reports state that the government had built the right infrastructure in the remote hinterland of the country, ensuring no region remains too far from its benefits. Once the infrastructure was built, cables were laid for the fiber net. As per reports, around 34000 kilometers of cables were placed across the state.
In July 2022, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) gave KFON both an infrastructure provider (IPL) license and approved it as an internet service provider (ISP).
The
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