This is the second visit of the minister to a neighbouring state in a span of 20 days. PTR visited Telangana on 20 July.
Pinarayi Vijayan and PTR in Kerala on Tuesday, 8 August, 2023. (Supplied)
Within a month of his trip to Telangana, Tamil Nadu Minister for IT and Digital Services Palanivel Thiaga Rajan led a delegation to Kerala to study the LDF government’s ambitious Kerala Fibre Optic Network (KFON) project, which provides free internet connections for poor families.
On Tuesday, 8 August, PTR met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who also holds his state’s information technology portfolio.
PTR is said to have learnt about the methods adopted for the effective implementation of the project in Kerala.
With higher officials of Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation (TANFINET), PTR visited Vijayan at the Assembly complex and said that the purpose of the visit was to learn from each other as they strived to provide access to the internet to all citizens.
I led a delegation of Officials from the TANFINET project and the IT Department to Kerala to learn from their experience in implementing KFON, Kerala’s Fibre Optic Network. Grateful to the Hon CM @pinarayivijayan and Govt of Kerala, as well as all the officials of the IT Dept and… pic.twitter.com/1zNsyVc9Zk
— Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (@ptrmadurai) August 9, 2023
In his tweet, PTR said “We share the philosophy that social justice in this hyper-connected age includes equitable access to the wealth of information and online services (especially government services) via the internet”
The KFON project, which was launched recently by Vijayan in Kerala, is intended to provide quality internet free of cost to the poor, and at affordable rates to others.
The project also aimed to provide a reliable, secure, and scalable intranet — a private network contained within an enterprise that is used to securely share company information and computing resources among employees — for all government offices, educational institutions, and hospitals, among others.
KFON is also expected to partner with MSOs, TSPs, and ISPs for providing free internet to economically backward households.
About 20 lakh people would get very fast and free Internet connections at free or affordable rates through this project, the Kerala government has said.
It was a privilege and a pleasure to meet the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Kerala @pinarayivijayan in Thiruvananthapuram. I thank the CM, who holds the Information Technology portfolio, for graciously taking the time to meet us even though the Legislative Assembly was in session. We… https://t.co/crV2DND7gi
— Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (@ptrmadurai) August 9, 2023
“Delighted to meet Tamil Nadu IT Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan today. Had a productive discussion about the innovative KFON project aimed at obviating the digital divide. Our states collaborate for progress and people’s welfare. @ptrmadurai [sic],” Vijayan tweeted later.
Besides the ministers, officials from both states also took part in the meeting, the Kerala Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) statement said.
KFON brings Content Service Providers into the picture after the initial infrastructure is laid, to facilitate the provision of affordable broadband connectivity to households by the TSPs, ISPs, and cable operators by leveraging this network.
This apparently provides a level playing field for the best players in the telecom services field and discourages monopoly practices.
The state would be divided into four regions consisting of three-four districts each. The operators for each region are being selected through an open tender.
A special purpose vehicle (SPV) would provide the required bandwidth to these operators at subsidised rates. In lieu of this, free internet would be provided to economically backward households.
The minimum grant to the operator for providing free internet and the revenue share for the additional services are the bid parameters in the tender.
Out of 30,000 km of fibre being laid for the project, 50 percent would be leased out to Telecom Service Providers and Cable TV operators on a non-discriminatory basis.
The KFON project, upon implementation, is expected to connect more than 30,000 government offices and educational institutions and equip them with scalable bandwidth from 10 Mbps to 1 Gbps on demand.
On 20 July, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan led a delegation on a three-day visit to Telangana to study the policies and strategies implemented to build a robust IT sector in the state.
PTR meets Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao
The delegation met with Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao and learnt about the state’s IT and e-governance initiatives and policies to get a first-hand understanding of the IT and innovation ecosystem there.
The team also learned about the Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK) and T-Hub were established in tier II cities to provide training to the local youth and the setting up of IT towers in Warangal, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, and Siddipet, fully funded by the state government.
After his visit to Telengana, PTR met the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and briefed him about his learnings on the IT development of the state.
Sources in the Tamil Nadu IT Department said that the minister was aiming to create a robust digital infrastructure in Tamil Nadu and is in the process of enhancing the Digital and Information technology policy of the state.
The official also added that the minister would also visit a couple of foreign nations to learn about digitalisation in governance and submit a detailed report on the new digital policy of the state to the chief minister.
PTR, after moving from the Finance Ministry to Information Technology, said that he aimed to attract more investments, accelerate job creation and deliver growth at a pace that will re-establish Tamil Nadu leading state in IT.
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