Free WiFi at Marina Beach, Elliot's in November

Chennai: The ambitious state project "Internet for every household” announced early this year to increase digital penetration among Tamils is now gaining momentum.

Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV (Tactv) vested with the job of providing high speed internet service at important public places like bus stands, public parks, government office and shopping complexes, has now entered the tender clearing paper works and field surveys have begun, an informed official said.

The state in principle had also cleared the beach stretches (Marina and Elliots) and Koyambedu bus terminus for the free WiFi hotspot scheme and the project, a brain child of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, is likely to take off by November.

Meanwhile, Tactv had also invited sealed tenders from IT/ telecom service providers/ WiFi solution providers with experience and the bidder has to set up a subscriber management system capable of handling 2,000 access points and about 10,000 concurrent users, so that mass scale cost effective internet connections can be given to households at a cheaper rate with better service. Besides, the administrators are now working on improving the internet connections in all tier one cities by providing fibre cable internet through Arasu cable operators.

By March 2017, the State targets to achieve 50,000 internet connections and these connections will be better when compared with other national service providers like BSNL and Railnet as latest technology is followed.

Similarly, the rates for public will be cheaper by 30 to 40 per cent when compared with other service providers, the official said. “All district managers associated with Tactv have been asked to identify public places with more footfalls. In Kancheepuram, four places have been short listed for  free wifi hot spot schemes. Kancheepuram bus stand, district collectorate and in Chennai corporation parks are identified for the project”, said a Tactv district manager told Deccan Chronicle.

“It’s a good news for beach goers and techies in Chennai as they can enjoy free internet in Marina and Elliot’s, but the state should ensure that strong firewall measures are in place to ensure there is no harm to mobile or laptops used”, said software professional Sathish Babu, who works for an MNC in Mahindra city.

TN to take over Aadhaar, Census

Tamil Nadu may soon take over the Aadhaar and census operations of the state.

At present, the Aadhaar and census enumerations are handled by the Central government departments and through nodal officers liasoning with the state and the Centre. According to highly placed sources, communiqué between the state and the Centre is being exchanged and if the proposal gets through, the state may commence the aadhaar and census works, by October.

The project will be taken by the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV corporation and the time limit for issue of Aadhaar cards and replacement of new multi colour Aadhaar cards will be reduced, a state official said. “It’s a Herculean task and a final decision is yet to be made and the census commissionerate will also provide their expertise and association if the proposal progresses”, another official told this paper.