KFON

KFON is the short form of the Kerala Fibre Optic Network. It is to speed up and expand the network of the Internet in India especially – Kerala. This is a vast network of Optical Fibre cabling for developing communication networks by the Government. This is aimed mainly for the betterment of Internet and communication facilities in remote and village areas of Kerala. Now, the fiber connectivity is already there in Urban Areas of Kerala. With KFON cable connectivity, distant places will be connected by existing service providers like BSNL, JIO, AIRTEL, IDEA Etc. (existing internet service providers) by paying a rental to the Government.

Currently, due to high operational costs, fiber connectivity is only available in main towns / urban areas. Due to the distance between residences in Village and Rural areas, laying cable, there is not cost-effective for companies. KFON will bring a solution for this. The operation of the KFON fiber system will be by existing and new service providers of the internet. KFON is aimed to provide free internet facilities to low-income earning BPL families that are numbered more than 20 lacs at present. KFON is also aiming to connect all Government Organisations and Offices across the state for a smoother and effective operation on a real-time basis.

A Total of 34,859 Kilometres of fiber cabling is required in Kerala. As per the latest information, about 7800 Kilometres of cabling is completed. In the total mentioned above, Government offices of Thiruvananthapuram district in the south to Palakkad District in North is planned to connect initially. The number of total offices expected to connect in this span is 1000. Total offices altogether to connect is 29500 in the range. Cabling is completed in about 5800 offices so far.

Types of cables used in the KFON Project:

OPGW – Optical Ground Wire – This is laid through underground trenches/holes mainly on Transmission Tower areas. OPGW cabling has completed 506 Kilometres out of a total of 2750 kilometers.
ADSS – All-Dielectric Self-Supporting Cable – This is the cable that is laid above ground level mainly through lamp posts and Cable Carrying Posts of the Electricity Board. ADSS cabling has completed 1400 Kilometres out of a total of 5376 kilometers.

KFON Network performs on a four-layer style. They are named as:

Core Layer – One KSEB (Kerala State Electricity Board) sub-station in each district will be connected to the network. This substation is called POP ( Point Of Presence ). All 14 districts in Kerala will be connected in 2 ring shapes (Ring Topology). The Ring Topology system makes sure that internet service is uninterrupted. If cable damage or disruption occurs at a point of the ring, the data travels in the opposite direction and reaches the destination through the ring system. This system will be connected to Networking Operating Centre at Info-Park at Kochi and Disaster Recovery Centre of Vaidyuti Bhavan and State Data Centre at Thiruvananthapuram. The Data speed in the core layer is 800 GPBS. Operating Centre at Kochi will monitor and coordinate the Technical part of it. Disaster Centre in Thiruvananthapuram will be used for Emergency Service access.
Aggregation Ring: This is the secondary level. This consists of the whole districts’ network system. The data speed at this level is 40 GBPS.
Pre-Aggregation Ring: This is the network after aggregation ring – Data Speed at this level is 20 GBPS.
Spur Network: Spur Network is the last level of the Kfon network. There will be multiple routers in this network. The data speed between the two router networks will be 10 GBPS. The Networking Operating Centre has the mechanism to detect any kind of cable disruption.

KFON Project

KFON Project is fully owned by India Government. Since it is aimed at Kerala Rural Communication development, it is located in Kochi. The government will be doing the part of laying the cable and maintenance of it. KFON network system is officially inaugurated on 15 ^th February 2021. The approximate cost of the project is known as per the latest information is about INR 1500 Crores – That is 15,000 million Indian Rupees.

KFON is not an internet service provider. KFON is only a cable network provider that has connectivity all over Kerala through high-speed cabling. Internet service providers can make use of this cable service by paying the rent fixed or agreed. The benefit for existing service providers is that they can reach areas with KFON cabling, where there is no service of theirs. KFON cable Home connections are not available at this point in time. Initially, it is aimed at Connecting Government Offices and Educational Institutions at all districts. Home connection is expected to be in place by August 2021. Companies and Organisations can develop their intranet services also through KFON cabling.