Naidu targets Free Wifi to 13000 Panchayats!

Tech Savvy Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is keen on improving Internet connectivity to the grass root levels. The Chief Minister is ambitiously working on the Optic Fibre Grid being set up in Andhra Pradesh. By 2019, the project aims to provide free WiFi for about 12,909 gram panchayats, 46,000 government offices, educational institutions and hospitals.

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The project will cost Rs 4,660 crores of which the Centre will provide Rs 3,840 crores as part of the National Optic Fiber Network, and the state government will allot Rs 820 crores. The work on the optic fiber grid will officially start on October 22, Dasara. Some 55,000 kms of optic fiber cable should be laid using Geographical Information System (GIS).

The government plans to provide 15 to 20 Mbps internet connections to at least 1.20 crore households in AP the end of 2018. They will be costing modest 200 Rupees per month per connection. Currently a pilot project of this is going on in Parwada Mandal of Vishakapatnam district where villages under 17 gram panchayats are being linked with WiFi.