THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala state government has failed to fulfill the promise of free connections under the Kerala Fiber Optic Network (KFON) scheme. During the official launch event of the KFON initiative, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared that the first phase of connections would be completed by the end of June. However, as of now, only approximately 4,800 individuals have received their connections.
In accordance with the initial phase of the KFON project, Chief Minister Vijayan announced that around 14,000 households would receive free connections by the end of June, as part of the inauguration of KFON’s launch.
For the first phase of implementation, the Kerala state government authorized Kerala Vision Broadband to oversee the execution of the KFON scheme. Kerala Vision Broadband, an initiative led by cable TV operators, currently provides internet services across several districts.
Kerala Vision Broadband has indicated that the connection process has encountered difficulties due to the list of 14,000 Below Poverty Line (BPL) families provided by the Local Administration Department. Notably, Kerala Vision Broadband returned a list of 5,000 applicants, stating that KFON lacked sufficient personal information for these applicants.
Officials have expressed the possibility of completing the distribution of free KFON connections before this year’s Onam festival. While the first phase of the initiative remains ongoing with an indefinite timeline, KFON has not yet secured a new technology partner for the subsequent phase, which aims to provide approximately 250,000 connections.
Furthermore, the process to secure Internet Service Providers (ISPs) through tender calls for domestic commercial connections has faced delays, with the third round of tendering also experiencing an indefinite timeline.
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