CM seeks Centre’s help to speed up T-Fiber project

Hyderabad: A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be established to develop a strong fiber network in Telangana to connect every gram panchayat through ring architecture soon.In the first phase, digital connectivity restoration will be undertaken for 3,089 villages across the combined districts of Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy and Khammam, which are currently suffering from damaged network infrastructure.Under the Amended BharatNet Program (ABP), these villages will be connected on par with the rest of the state, utilising modern fiber infrastructure designed to meet future requirements.In the video conference held by Union communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, chief minister A Revanth Reddy along with IT and industries minister D Sridhar Babu brought to the attention of the union minister the challenges being faced in developing the fiber network and the immediate requirement of central assistance for it .CM Revanth explained Telangana’s vision of providing robust, high-speed internet connectivity to every village and every household and the assurances given by the union gov to achieve the objective, shaping the future for Telangana as part of T-Fiber project.“The discussions between the CM and union minister focused on expediting the finalisation of the implementation agreement, accelerating the release of pending funds and the implementation of the T-Fiber project under the ABP in the state,” the CMO officials said.Introducing a clear policy framework regarding the transfer of ring network assets from the mandal level to the gram panchayat level and the ‘Digital Bharat Nidhi’ fund were also reviewed in the meeting. The Union minister assured that the Union govt would extend full cooperation, said the CMO officials.In the meeting, the state govt approved the establishment of a SPV to create a robust network and also signed an agreement with the Centre to lay a foundation for a truly ‘Digital Telangana’.Officials said that the state was moving towards establishing a unified digital backbone. Even if a disruption occurs along one route, services will continue uninterrupted via an alternative path. Consequently, rural Telangana will gain access to truly continuous, high-speed broadband connectivity in the future.Chief secretary K Ramakrishna Rao, special secretary to the CM B Ajit Reddy, joint secretary to IT department D Anudeep and other senior officials participated in the video conference.