Andhra Pradesh to buy 1 million set-top boxes for households

Govt is likely to recover the cost of these set-top boxes from the beneficiaries later

Andhra Pradesh government will buy one million set-top boxes to facilitate the households to use three-in-one broad band services being offered through the government-funded AP Fibrenet project across the state.

The state cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to extend the government's guarantee to a Rs 300 crore loan to be availed from banks by the AP State Fibernet Limited towards purchase of these 1 million set-top boxes in the first phase.

The government is likely to recover the cost of these set-top boxes from the beneficiaries later.

Last year AP government had announced that it would provide television, telephone and internet services to each of the 13 million households for a charge of Rs 150 per month under under this project. It had set up a fiber-optic cable network across the state using the existing electricity distribution network by spending little over Rs 300 crore, for this purpose.

AP State Fibernet Limited has recently provided the broadband connectivity to a village in East Godavari district on a pilot basis. The government's nodal agency has also singed MoUs with various service providers, including the telecom companies, to allow its network to offer their services.