IT secretary Aruna Sunderajan had requested the chief general manager (CGM) of Kerala Telecom to provide 2mbps (mega bytes per second) connectivity free of cost across the state for an exclusive network connecting various government departments.

Citing the example of Andhra Pradesh, she pointed out that DoT had provided connectivity free of cost to the government in that state. "With a similar facility, we can link around 2,000 locations in the state," she said in a letter.

Kerala Telecom CGM PP Ramachandran said the matter would have to be closely examined before free connectivity could be provided. "We will take up the matter with higher authorities to see what can be done," he added.

IT experts pointed out that while states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have signed contracts with private telecom companies for broadband connectivity, Kerala has still not taken any step in this direction.

Several private telecom companies have submitted proposals for providing free connectivity for e-governance, in exchange for `rights of way' for laying optical fibre cables. The files were submitted almost a month back through the state planning board and is now lying in the chief minister's office.India Abroad News Service