Kerala KFON Scheme – One of its major projects, the Kerala Fibre Optical Network Scheme (KFON), which was planned during the first term of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was formally launched by the Kerala government on Monday, June 5. Kerala, the first state to recognize the right to the internet as a fundamental right, hopes to close the digital gap by providing high-speed broadband internet access to every home and government building through KFON. Additionally, it aims to boost e-governance and hasten Kerala’s transition to a knowledge-based economy. Read below to check the detailed information related to Kerala KFON Scheme.
About Kerala KFON Scheme 2024
KFON will serve primarily as a provider of infrastructure. With 375 Points-of-Presence spread throughout Kerala, it is an optical fibre cable network with a length of 30,000 km. Cable operators and other service providers will both have access to the KFON infrastructure. Government offices will have their cable work done by KFON, but individual recipients will have to rely on private, regional internet service providers. Kerala Vision Broadband, a project of cable TV providers, offers internet services in various regions. Private Service providers will also profit from the KFON infrastructure because they can use its cable network. Local ISPs, TSPs, and cable TV providers would provide internet connectivity to the homes.
Finally, #Kerala has realized the dream of becoming the first state with its own internet service! It was a proud moment to dedicate #KFON to the people. It offers free internet connections to 20 lakh families, thus ending the digital divide by ensuring internet access for all. pic.twitter.com/aKXiZQaaEG — Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) June 5, 2023
Details of Kerala Fibre Optical Network Scheme
| Scheme Name | Kerala KFON Scheme |
| Full Name | Kerala Fibre Optical Network (KFON) |
| Introduced by | Government of Kerala |
| Introduced on | Monday, June 5 2023 |
| State | Kerala |
| Benefits | high-speed broadband internet access to every home and government building |
| Official Website | https://kfon.kerala.gov.in/ |
KFON Scheme Objective
KFON is being promoted by the CPI (M) government in Kerala as a component of the alternative Left-wing development model. KFON is being used to demonstrate the CPI (M)’s commitment to the public sector in the telecom industry, which is dominated by private businesses. According to the government, the current TELCOS have just a modest infrastructure in rural areas, and their wireless connectivity infrastructure only offers a little amount of capacity. Private TELCOs are not eager to improve broadband infrastructure because there is little commercial opportunity in rural areas.
Additionally, the Kerala State Wide Area Network (KSWAN), the state’s current information infrastructure connecting government offices, is only capable of connecting 3,800 buildings. Because of this, the government decided to create KFON in 2017 for reliable, interoperable, secure, and efficient service delivery.
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Kerala KFON Scheme Coverage
The government plans to connect 14,000 BPL families and 30,000 government offices in the state in the first stage of KFON. As of June 5, 17,412 government buildings and 2,105 homes had connectivity, and a cable network had been set up to connect 9,000 homes. Internet speeds ranging from 10 mbps to 10 Gbps are promised by KFON. It is also anticipated that mobile phone calls would become of higher quality. KFON will hasten the transition to 4G and 5G once it is connected to mobile towers in Kerala.
Stakeholders of Scheme
The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and Kerala State IIT Infrastructure Limited are partners in the Rs 1,611 crore KFON project. The project was announced in 2017, but work didn’t begin until 2019 with the intention of being completed in 2021. A group of companies headed by the Central PSU Bharat Electronics Limited took on the project’s implementation. Price Water house Coopers is the project’s consultant. Although KSEBL will hold the infrastructure asset, Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd (KSITIL) would be in charge of project operations and maintenance. The system integrator for the KFON project is Bharat Electronics (BEL).
The tasks of laying the optical fibre cable network, establishing network point of presence locations, and supplying connectivity to governmental institutions have been taken on by BEL. For seven years, BEL would be in charge of running and maintaining the project. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), a state government organisation responsible for funding infrastructure projects, provided all the funding for the project.
Services Offered
- The KFON aims to build an information highway (core network infrastructure) with open access to all service providers and a dependable, secure, and scalable intranet that connects all government agencies and educational institutions.
- Its primary offerings include connectivity to government buildings, leasing of dark fibre, internet leased lines, fibre to the home, WIFI hotspots, colocation of assets under network operational centres, over-the-top (OTT), and cloud hosting.
- The Infrastructure Provider (category 1) and Internet Service Provider (category B) licences were granted to the KFON by the Union Department of Telecommunications.
- In order to construct an optic fibre network, the KFON was able to acquire dark fibre fibre optic lines, towers, duct space, networks, and other necessary infrastructure facilities thanks to the IP licence.
Kerala KFON Scheme Benefits to the Underprivileged
One of the KFON’s main selling points is that the government plans to provide internet access for 20 lakh families living in poverty. Up to 14,000 BPL families would receive free high-speed internet connections in the initial phase. 100 BPL household will eventually be chosen for this program in each of the 140 Assembly districts in the state.
Steps to Register on Kerala KFON Scheme Portal
To register on the portal, the user needs to follow the below given steps:
- First of all, go to the official websiteof the KFON i.e., https://kfon.kerala.gov.in/
- The homepage of the website will open on the screen.
- Click on the click here for register link
- A new page will open on the screen
- Now, under the Apply Online option, three options will be available i.e.,
- Retail Enquiry
- Distributor/Franchisee
- Corporate (B2B)
- Now, select one of the option as per the requirement
- The registration form will open on your screen
- Now, fill in the form with all the required details like name, mobile number, email id, address, pin code, etc
- After that, click on the submit button to complete the registration process
Contact Details
For further details or in case of any query or complaint related to the Kerala KFON Scheme, feel free to contact on the below-given details:
Address: Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Ltd., 1st Floor, Sankethika, PF Road, Vrindavan Gardens, Pattom PO, Thiruvananthapuram- 695004
Email id: info@ksitil.org
Phone Number: 0471-2969640, 4068006,