CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s rural broadband push is set to get a high-profile spotlight next week with Chief Minister MK Stalin scheduled to address thousands of village assemblies through a state-wide optical fibre network.
Information Technology Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan told reporters on Thursday that more than 11,800 gram panchayats have been connected under the Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) infrastructure, a key part of the state’s digital inclusion strategy.
“During the grama sabha meeting on October 11, the CM will interact with representatives from selected gram panchayats via video conferencing using the OFC network,” PTR said. The interaction will be streamed live to over 10,000 village panchayats, marking the largest single use of the state’s fibre network so far.
The minister said the government is also revamping its rural broadband model after initial efforts to engage franchisees at the panchayat level drew little interest. “The franchisee model at the panchayat level proved commercially unviable due to low revenue and high installation costs,” he said.
To address these challenges, the government will now adopt an integrated district-level franchisee model to lower costs for Optical Network Terminal (ONT) installations and improve service quality.