Explained: What Is KFON Project Launched By Kerala Government?

The Kerala government on Tuesday launched its ambitious Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) project with an aim to take internet to every single house across the state.

It has become the first state to launch its own internet service in the country with an optical fibre cable network of 30,000 kms. "Kerala's dream has now become a reality. We will be providing internet for all with this project launch. We are the first state to declare the internet as a right of the citizens and that doesn't stay on the paper but we are building it. And we will ensure that it is available to each and everyone," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said at the event.

So, what is the scheme all about?

With this scheme, the Kerala government is set to provide free internet to poor and affordable internet service to all who reside in the state. The aim of the government is to give free internet to 20 lakh families from economically backward class.

A public sector undertaking (PSU), BEL is responsible for planning, procurement, execution, operation, monitoring and control, while RailTel, another PSU, is responsible for supply, installation, testing, commissioning, operation and maintenance of all IT components.

The Reach Of Project

In the initial phase, the government will provide internet access to 100 houses in each legislative assembly constituency. "K-FON has built-in 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 connections of higher speed based on individual requirements", a press release said.

The government wants to bridge the digital divide and empower marginalised sections of society, thereby ushering in a digital revolution. It hopes that this project will bring changes and open up new avenues for social and economic development.

At this stage, K-FON has been successfully installed in 26,492 government offices, of which 17,354 offices have live internet access. The internet service will be available to all government offices by the end of June. Also, it has over 1,000 household subscribers and installation of cables for over 7000 connections has been completed. The government expects to give connections to 14,000 households by the end of June.

Cost of The Project

K-FON is a public-funded project and the estimated cost is over Rs 1,500 crore. "After giving free services to economically-backward households, which come to around 20 lakh families, and connections to nearly 30,000 government offices, we aim to provide commercial connections to the rest of the households, other institutions such as ration shops, SupplyCo outlets, Kerala Bank, etc and monetise them," K-FON MD and former IAS officer Santhosh Babu told PTI.

Currently, in the state, which has around 4 crore population with 75 lakh households, only around 20 lakh families have fibre connections. "The government wants internet connectivity in all these 75 lakh families. There is a huge market that is wide open. After providing free internet connection to the economically backward families, which is also around 20 lakh, we can provide internet connection in a commercial manner to the rest of the households in a cost-effective manner," the K-FON MD said.

According to the official website, KFON will be able to connect to the nearly 8000+ mobile towers and significantly enhance mobile call quality. This will also accelerate the 4G/5G transitions. Presently 80 per cent of the towers are not fiberized and uses radio, an issue for the 4G/5G rollout, which will also be solved by KFON.

However, KFON will not enter into a price war with the existing companies and wants to be a complementary ecosystem to the existing telecom ecosystem.

Presently, Kerala Vision Broadband, an initiative led by cable TV operators, is playing a leading role in delivering internet services across several districts. Private service providers will also reap the advantages of the KFON infrastructure by utilizing its extensive cable network. Local ISP/TSP/cable TV providers will be responsible for offering internet connectivity to households.