President inaugurates AP Fibre Grid, dedicates it to nation

News Gateway / AP Fibre Grid  / Hyderbad /

Over one crore households in Andhra Pradesh, 50,000 schools and educational institutions, all government offices in the districts, over 5,000 government hospitals and health centres and all panchayat offices will get access to high-speed internet and rent-free telephone and cable TV services from next December as part of the AP Fibre Grid Project.

Inaugurating the ambitious project at an event in Amaravati, President Ram Nath Kovind dedicated it to the nation. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was also present at the vent.

The Andhra Pradesh State Fibernet Limited (APSFL), which is implementing the AP Fibre Grid project, will provide the three services at tariffs starting as low as Rs 149 for 5 GB data at 15 MBPS speed and 250 TV channels and a free telephone connection. While there are two other plans of Rs 399 and Rs 599 for households, for private offices and institutions, the plans start at Rs 999 for 50 GB at 100 MBPS and Rs 2499 for 250 GB.

The Andhra Pradesh State Fibernet Limited (APSFL), which is implementing the AP Fibre Grid project, will provide the three services at tariffs starting as low as Rs 149 for 5 GB data at 15 MBPS speed and 250 TV channels and a free telephone connection.

Under the project, the APSFL, which has now become the largest state government-owned telecommunication company in the country, has already laid over 23,000 kms of the total 55,000 kms long Optical Fibre Cable in the 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh. While the first phase targets households, in the second phase the project envisages rolling out the services for all the 9000 gram panchayats from mandal headquarters, which are already connected through the BSNL network. Horizontal connectivity from gram panchayats to schools and other educational institutions, primary health centres and government offices will be given through WIFI. Information Technology Minister N Lokesh Naidu today said that the fibre grid must be put to full utilization in sectors like education, telemedicine, e-governance, agriculture, rural development, and e-commerce.

The fibre optic grid is one of the five grids being established by the AP Government; the four others are Water Grid, Gas Grid, Power Grid, and Road Grid. Officials said that internet connectivity in every nook and corner of the state will help in improving citizen services, digital literacy and skill development, and help in good governance, besides helping IT Enabled Services to set up BPOs or call centres in rural areas. The fibre grid will also offer services like video-conferencing and movies on demand. The 16 district command control centres, all public CCTVs, the AP State Wide Area Network will be integrated into the grid.