Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 19 (Agency) K-FON, a flagship project of the Kerala State Government, is on the verge of becoming self-sustainable after fulfilling its financial liabilities. The success story of K-FON has been scripted on a foolproof execution plan right from the project cost in the initial stages to its full-fledged implementation based on a comprehensive stocktaking at every stage, a release said. The initial project cost was pegged at Rs 1,482 crore. However, the project is now being operated only at a cost of Rs 791.29 crore. The project became operational with Rs 488.40 crore from KIIFB instead of the originally earmarked Rs 1,061.73 crore, Rs 217.85 crore instead of Rs. 336 crore from the State Government and Rs 85 crore from the Central Government. This feat was achieved through the cost and network optimization. The allocation from KIIFB was strictly based on the presentation of bills of expenses actually incurred. K-FON now aims at achieving sustainable operational success through internet leased line, leasing of dark fibre, household commercial connections and connections to the government offices. Out of the total practical possibilities of 28,888 kilometers, 96% of the cable laying has been completed. The Network Operating Centre (NOC) at Kakkanad and the 375 points of presence (POP) that ensure uninterrupted functioning have been fully operational. With the acquisition of the National Long Distance(NLD) licence from the Department of Technology, K-FON is now capable of offering internet lease lines(ILL), P2P connectivity, VPN, MPLS connectivity. This constitutes private telecommunication circuits between two or more places and provides an additional revenue source for K-FON, which, on an average, expects an annual revenue of Rs. 100 crore from this.
Out of the 200 applications received till now, internet lease line connections have been provided to 34 applicants. K-FON could lease 10 to 14 core fibres surplus to its use of the 48F OPGW/ADSS fibre laid for the network. This provides another revenue stream to K-FON. Around 4,300 kilometre dark fibres have been leased to various companies in this manner. The goal is to hit the 10,000 kilometre landmark by September 2024 fetching an anticipated revenue of Rs. 50 crore. K-FON has put in place the technical facilities and equipment for extending household commercial connections (FTTH), which has already been launched, to 5 lakh households. After vetting the applications, household commercial connections have been issued to 5,388 households so far. Works are underway to provide connection to another 5,000 households. K-FON has announced different tariff plans for the customers to choose from based on the required internet speed. Applications can be filed either through the Ente K-FON app or through www.kfon.in website. K-FON is scheduled to provide internet connectivity to 30,438 government offices. Out of this connection has so far been provided to 28,634 offices and is functional in 21,214 offices. The rest could not be completed owing to the Right of Way disputes with road development agencies, railway and the National Highways Authority of India. On offering internet connectivity in all government offices as scheduled, K-FON expects a revenue of Rs. 200 crore.
The State Government had issued an order making K-FON a primary connection at all government offices and to foot the K-FON bills based on bandwidth usage in a time bound manner. This support from the State Government will do a world of good for the successful progress of K-FON. Besides, works are underway for offering connectivity to economically backward households. So far, free connections with a speed of 15 mbps have been made available to 5,734 households though Kerala Vision, which has agreed to meet its promise of covering 7,000 households. For the rest of the 7,000 households, K-FON will directly give the connection as and when the list of beneficiaries is made available by Kerala Vision. K-FON, which has entered the operation and maintenance phase, costs Rs 15 crore per month, including the tender amount to be paid to BEL for seven years, repayment of loan to KIIFB, internet bandwidth charges, electricity charges, administrative charges, and amount to be paid to DoT. K-FON has the potential to repay this amount through revenues from commercial activities and become one of the profitable PSUs in the state.