Hyderabad: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said the AP Fiber Grid project, taken up with an estimated cost of Rs 4,700 crore, will be completed in three years. Once complete, Andhra Pradesh will become the first digital state in the country to provide "Fiber to the Home" (FTTH) connections.
Speaking about the project in the Assembly on Saturday, the chief minister said underground fiber cable needs to be laid for 61,000 km in AP, as part of the project taken up in association with the Centre, under the Bharat Net programme.
“In view of the huge cost and long timeframe involved in completion of the project, the state has decided to set up aerial fiber cable network infrastructure utilising electrical poles under the first phase of the project,” he said, adding that it is estimated to cost Rs 333 crore and targeted time frame is 9 months.
He said the field works of Fiber Grid commenced in November, 2015 and aerial optical fiber has been laid for 9,378 km so far. The works are almost complete in three districts, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam, except for laying cable in Agency areas for 140 km, for which suitable methods are being planned. Commercial services will be provided to the public in these district by the end of April, 2016.
At present, works are in progress in Kurnool, Kadapa, Anantapur, Chittoor and East Godavari districts. He Works in West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and Nellore districts will commence by the end of April, 2016.
Mr Naidu said there are plans to set up three digital corporations for developing suitable customised content in education and health sectors. He said the IT department had already floated the bids on Feb, 23, 2016 for selecting suitable partners for this purpose.
