The State government has constituted a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to study possibilities of monetising the Kerala Fibre Optic Network (KFON).
The proposal is for the monetisation of the unused fibres to private players after providing Internet connection to below the poverty line (BPL) families and government offices. The committee consists of the Finance Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary (IT), Vice Chancellor of Kerala Digital University, and the KFON Managing Director.
Out of 48 fibres that are part of the network, KFON will be using 22 for its own operations, while the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) will also be using a few. The rest can be leased out, with an aim to generating money from the network, to fund the operational and upgrading costs. The network will incur substantial upgrading costs in the years ahead. The network currently has a capacity for one lakh connections, beyond which upgrades will need to be done, according to KFON officials.
