Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu launched the first phase of the Fiber Grid project to provide broadband connectivity at a cheap rate to citizens.
The Andhra government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Cisco on Thursday as part of the inauguration of India's first statewide broadband project 'AP FiberNet' in Visakhapatnam.
We're providing Internet through APSFL at Rs.149/month for a 15 Mbps line to households & offices will get 100 Mbps line at Rs.999/ month.
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) March 17, 2016
Naidu said digital transformation was the most effective means to ignite sustainable growth and improve society. His government's aim was to provide Internet connection to all households in the state as part of the Digital India campaign, he said.
Read: Complete fiber grid project by March 2016: Chandrababu Naidu
Under the project, Internet connections would be provided at cheap rate in districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram by April. It will cover the rest of the state by end of July this year.
Under the project, 15Mbps broadband connection will be provided at Rs 149 per month to households and 100Mbps connection for offices at Rs 999 per month. Electrical poles will be used to lay overhead fibre net cable instead of underground ones to save cost.
Read: AP to provide Internet, cable to all villages by April 2016: Chandrababu Naidu
Executive chairman of Cisco John T Chambers said the company would set up an Internet of Everything (IoE) Innovation Centre in Visakhapatnam to foster regional innovation and will enable partners and start-ups to build solutions around IoE to engage in rapid prototyping.
