The State-owned Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited will provide broadband and internet service at cheap rates, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa told the Assembly on Monday.
Making a series of announcements to give a fresh impetus to information technology-driven public services, she said the Corporation that had been offering cable TV service at a rate of Rs. 70 per month, would work with broadband licence holders.
Ms. Jayalalithaa also announced construction of a new building at a cost of Rs 40 crore for the Tamil Nadu State Data Centre to widen its services to other government departments.
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The Data Centre has been offering service to 15 government departments, including Commercial Taxes Department, Chennai Corporation and Metro Rail. “At present the centre does not have adequate infrastructure. A 5,000 sq feet building with 40 racks will be constructed.”
The Chief Minister said a Near Line Disaster Recovery Centre would be set up at a cost of Rs. 5 crore. “Natural disasters continue to pose a challenge to the Data Centre. So there is a need to keep the data in a centre other than Disaster Recovery Centre in the city. The Near Line Disaster Recovery Centre will fulfil the purpose,” Ms Jayalalithaa said.
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The government had already distributed 20 lakh laptops to students and it now decided to offer cloud services and web-hosting services at a cheaper rate to further the entrepreneurship and creative skills of the youth.
The project cost would be Rs. 50 lakh.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said the Tamil Virtual Academy would create an internet encyclopaedia to facilitate interaction and sharing of knowledge on the greatness of the Tamil language and the achievements made in the language.
A senior official said that in providing broadband and internet facility, the government would rope in all service providers with back-end facilities.
“It will be a value added service wherein the government will provide the last mile connectivity. It will be a win-win situation for both the government and service providers.”