CHENNAI: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday announced that the State government would provide low-cost internet services, including high- speed broadband and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), through the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV).
The government would also implement the Centre’s BharatNeT Project to link 12,524 village panchayats through Optical Fibre Network, with an investment of `3,000 crore by establishing a separate entity, Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation. Making a suo motu statement under Rule 110 in the Assembly, the Chief Minister said following her announcement made on August 11, 2014, TACTV had obtained Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence from the Centre and had also signed an MoU with the RailTel Corporation of India Limited for providing high-speed broadband connections and other internet services. “In the first phase, 552 Local Cable Operators have been registered for offering these services and the TACTV has been closely monitoring the efficacy of the services being provided to the public,” said the CM.
Official sources said these services are being provided to the public on a pilot basis in select areas, including the districts of Vellore and Kancheepuram.
The Chief Minister further said the Centre had agreed to her request for implementing the BharatNet project by the State government. The project would be executed with the contribution of the Central government. The CM said at present there were 10,034 e-service centres offering 36 services to the public in getting social schemes of the State government. She also announced that during the current financial year, the number of services to be provided through the e-service centres would be increased from 36 to 336, at an expenditure of `10 crore