On 29th May 2020 Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on a Rs.1500 crore Kerala Fiber Optic Network(K-FON) project executed by the association of Bharat Electronics Limited(BEL), RailTel Corporation (Public sector companies) and SRIT and LS Cables (Private sector companies) to provide free internet access for the poor by December 2020 and become the first state to declare the internet as a fundamental right of the citizen.
Note:It would be implemented by Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited and Kerala State Electricity Board(KSEB).
Benefits of K-FON:
i.The K-FON will provide high quality internet free of cost to the poor and at an affordable price to all other citizens of the state.
ii.This will provide internet to institutions like schools, hospitals, government offices etc. and increase the usage of the internet in the education and banking sector
iii.This will support the development of Kerala to lead in industrial, educational and tourism sectors.
Key Points:
i.Using the KSEB posts the optical fiber cables are being laid across the state.
ii.K-FON project is likely to be completed by December 2020 as acknowledged by M V Gowtama Chairman & MD of BEL.
iii.This initiative will help the state in achieving the proposed Knowledge-based economy.
About Bharat Electronics Limited(BEL):
Chairman & MD – M V Gowtama
Established – 1954
Headquarters – Bangalore, Karnataka
About RailTel:
Chairman & MD – Puneet Chawla
Established – 2000
Headquarters – New Delhi
