CHENNAI: After spending years laying fibre-optic cables across rural Tamil Nadu, the state is now moving to convert that infrastructure into working broadbandconnections, floating a tender to procure 2.5 lakh devices that will enable homes, government offices and public institutions to access high-speed internet.
Once installed, the devices will allow broadband services to reach government offices, educational institutions and households, expanding access to digital public services such as telemedicine, online banking, remote education, welfare delivery and e-governance.
The devices, known as Optical Network Terminals (ONTs), will be installed on the subscriber’s premises and convert fibre-optic signals into usable broadband connections.
The tender was issued by the Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation (TANFINET). The procurement is part of BharatNet Phase II, the union government’s flagship rural broadband programme, under which TANFINET is the implementing agency in Tamil Nadu.
The successful bidder will supply the ONTs, assist TANFINET and its authorised agencies with installation, and maintain the devices for four years, including a one-year warranty and three years of comprehensive maintenance.
Official sources said reliable broadband connectivity is increasingly seen as essential for attracting IT services, global capability centres and other knowledge-based industries to tier-2 and tier-3 towns.
While BharatNet has already extended fibre connectivity to village and block panchayats across the state, much of the network remains underutilised because the last-mile equipment needed to activate individual connections has not yet been deployed.