AP: fibre cable network to piggyback on power poles

You see thousands of electric poles along the roads. Soon, they are going to carry Internet cables too. The Andhra Pradesh government has just approved a plan to use 3.60 lakh electric poles, covering a total length of 23,000 km and providing power to thousands of towns, villages and habitats.

The new State, which has 13 districts, is planning to use this extensive network to provide broadband to about 1.3 crore houses. The Government has submitted a project report to the Union Government for its approval.

Incidentally, the Telangana Government is planning to use one-km-long trenches that is going to lay for Water Grid for building the OFC network.

All the electric poles will be geo-tagged (providing geographical identification information to a photo or a video) to help the officials in connecting the poles with fibre cable. The Government expects to save a lot of money by utilising the robust network of electric distribution lines, created over a period of time, a Government statement said here on Thursday.

The Andhra Pradesh Government is planning to set up AP Fibre Corporation with an initial investment of Rs 10 crore.

As it nears completion of one year in office, the State Government has approved the Fibre Grid project, promising 10-15 mbps to houses in the State for just Rs 150 a month and 100 mbps speeds for businesses.

The Government is going to capture the GPS (global positioning system) information of all the poles and the respective sub-stations that control them.

Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Commissioner B Ramanjaneyulu held a teleconference with 3,600 stakeholders representing different departments to give a perspective on the project.

The AP Fibre Grid Project will take care of laying fibre cable along the poles, using geo-tagging. To start with, the Fibre Network would be operational in the areas covered by Eastern and Southern Power Distribution Companies.