Kerala Fibre Optical Network (KFON) Scheme
Why in news:
- The Kerala government Monday (June 5) officially launched the Kerala Fibre Optical Network (KFON).
- Through KFON, Kerala, which was the first state to declare the right to internet as a basic right.
- It aims to reduce the digital divide by ensuring high speed broadband internet access to all houses and government offices.
- It is also intended to give a fillip to e-governance and accelerate Kerala’s journey towards being a knowledge-based economy.
What is KFON?
- Basically, KFON will act as an infrastructure provider. It is an optical fibre cable network of 30,000 kms, with 375 Points-of-Presence across Kerala.
- The KFON infrastructure will be shared with all service providers, including cable operators.
- While KFON will do the cable work for government offices, individual beneficiaries will have to depend on private, local internet service providers.
- The KFON infrastructure will also benefit private service providers as they can use its cable network.
- Internet connectivity to the households would be provided by local ISP/TSP/cable TV providers.
What services will it provide?
- The aim of the KFON is to create a core network infrastructure (information highway) with non-discriminatory access to all service providers, and to ensure a reliable, secure and scalable intranet connecting all government offices and educational institutions.
- Its major services are connectivity to government offices, leasing of dark fibre, internet leased line, fibre to the home, wifi hotspots, colocation of assets under network operating centres and Point-of-Presences, internet protocol television, OTT, and cloud hosting.
- The Union Department of Telecommunications had provided Infrastructure Provider (category one) licence as well as the Internet Service Provider licence (category B) to the KFON.
- The IP licence allowed the KFON to obtain fibre optic lines (dark fibre), towers, duct space, network and other related infrastructure facilities for establishing an optic fibre network.
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