Kerala Becomes First Indian State To Have Its Personal Internet Service Called 'K-Fon'- Here's All You Need To Know

Kerala has become the first and only Indian state to have its very-own internet service, as per Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who officially made the announcement on July 14.

This announcement followed the Department of Telecommunications' approval of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence for the IT infrastructure project of the Kerala Fiber Optic Network Ltd; the goal of which is to provide everyone access to the internet in the state.

Taking to Twitter, the Kerala CM stated: "Now, our prestigious #KFON project can kickstart its operations of providing internet as a basic right to our people."

Kerala becomes the only State in the country with its own internet service. The Kerala Fiber Optic Network Ltd has received the ISP license from @DoT_India. Now, our prestigious #KFON project can kickstart its operations of providing internet as a basic right to our people. pic.twitter.com/stGPI4O1X6

— Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) July 14, 2022

Know About K-Fon!

The Kerala Fiber Optic Network Ltd or K-Fon is an initiative of the state government that aims to banish the digital gap.

According to the Vijayan-led government, the infrastructure created by this project is set to complement the state's telecom ecosystem.

What Are The Objectives Of K-Fon?

The main goal of the Kerala government's K-Fon initiative is to create a core network infrastructure (information highway) with non-discriminatory access to all service providers to augment their connectivity gap, reported News18.

Another aim of this move is to deliver a secure, reliable, and scalable intranet linking all government offices, hospitals, educational institutions, etc.

Furthermore, partner with Multiple System Operators, Internet Service Providers and Telecommunication Service Providers to provide free internet to households that are economically backward.

Kerala Going Online!

The ethos behind the initiative of K-Fon is "non -discriminatory" treatment, which indicates that no business segment or service provider receives preferential treatment, as suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

According to the state authorities, any service provider at any given level of the business segment, including Telecommunication Service Providers, Multiple System Operators, Internet Service Providers, and Local cable operators, are able to use this network to fulfil the connectivity gaps at their core networks without the need to worry about hitting the onerous Righ of Way or RoW and expensive CAPEX criteria.

It should be noted that these community-level networks can also link to K-Fon and provide services and access to underserved regions that would be financially unattractive otherwise to mainstream providers.

As per the authorities, this paradigm might prompt market forces to intervene and boost competition in providing better connectivity services to people.

As per the K-Fon website, "The K-Fon network will function as a strong foundation for all government-to-government, government-to-citizens and business-to-citizens interactions."

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