The State Cabinet approved the recommendations of a six-member committee which was appointed to study possibilities of monetising the Kerala Fibre Optic Network (KFON). The KFON will adopt a proprietor model by which the management responsibilities will remain with it, while outsourcing the other functions. The committee was constituted to study the monetisation of the unused fibres to private players after providing Internet connection to below the poverty line (BPL) families and government offices.
While the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL) needs to ensure that the agencies to provide LAN and WiFi networks in government offices are empanelled, the KFON will have to ensure the operation and maintenance of the optical network terminal to provide internet connection to the offices through the system integrator Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Instead of the government offices paying separately for the internet services, the government will pay the bills for all the offices as quarterly payments.
A management service provider will be chosen through tender proceedings to aid KFON in the day-to-day activities related to technical and commercial aspects. The possibilities of extending to five years the tender period for the project to provide free internet to Below Poverty Line families will be looked at. A member from the Department of Telecommunications will be included in the KFON technical advisory committee related to technology and security.
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