All the gram panchayats and government offices in the district will get high-speed internet facility under the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), a Central government-sponsored project, by March next year.
Around 500 km of underground optical fibre cable (OFC) has already been laid in the district for this purpose. An additional 1,300 km of OFC will be laid across the district soon.
OFC laying works have been fully completed in Khammam urban, Garla, Julurupadu and Singareni (Karepalli) mandals. Works are under progress in the remaining mandals. OFC laying works are progressing at a slow pace in 13 mandals due to some technical issues, sources said.
Collector K Ilambarithi reviewed the progress of the OFC works at a meeting with the officials of the BSNL, Power Grid and Forest Department here.
According to sources, the Collector asked the officials to work in tandem and ensure speedy completion of the OFC works. All the gram panchayats, government offices, schools and hospitals would gain access to OFC-based high-speed broadband connectivity under the NOFN by March, 2016.