HYDERABAD: During the virtual launch of T-Fiber as a proof of concept (POC) in three villages on Sunday, a student who interacted virtually with Sridhar Babu expressed delight over the new initiative.
“I do not have a laptop because of which I was not able to access education videos at home. But now it will be available on television,” she informed the minister.
Speaking to TNIE, T-Fiber Grid Corporation MD V Prasad Panneru said the underground network, inspired by the Union government’s rural telecom Bharat Net Project, comprises a three-way ring protection system.
“It means that if there is a signal disconnection, there are three ways for the internet to reach a single point. This is possible because each point is connected with three different locations to provide uninterrupted connectivity. The beauty of this is that fibre is laid beside Mission Bhagiratha and water has reached every village and household, so we chose that route,” he explained.
At present, infrastructure works are completed in 20 districts, covering 203 mandals and 4,336 gram panchayats. Out of this, the network is ready for commercial services in about 12 districts, comprising 94 mandals and 2,096 GPs. Of 12,700 villages, fiber has been laid in around 9,000 villages, he said,
The proposed services to households will include providing a base service package of IPTV consisting of free to air TV channels and delivery of paid Telugu TV channels, internet at 20 mbps, telephonic (VOIP) services, G2G/G2C services and virtual desktop interface.
With the help of a set top box, people can turn their televisions into a virtual desktop/computer screen. Apart from this, of the 90,000 government institutions — schools, hospitals, offices and Anganwadis — in the state, T-Fiber aims to connect about 30,000 institutions in the first year and subsequently connect the remaining offices.
While the subscription of T-Fiber is expected to be around Rs 300, Panneru said a decision on this will be taken in the upcoming board meeting.
AI-powered CCTVs in future
Panneru stated that the corporation has obtained RoW clearance for every electric pole in order to install AI-powered CCTVs.
“They will be placed at specific points and will be integrated with every police station and subsequently to Integrated Command Control Centre (ICCC), Banjara Hills. The purpose is to monitor and send alerts to police,” he said.