Cisco to implement AP's broadband project

American tech giant Cisco today said it has partnered with the Andhra Pradesh government to design and implement a broadband project in the state.
AP Fibre Net is a project aimed at providing on-demand, affordable broadband connectivity of 2 to 20 mbps for all households and 1 to 10 Gbps for all institutions by 2018.
The network will cover 2,500 locations and is 22,500 km long, reaching 2 million households.
The MoU between Cisco and the government of Andhra Pradesh was signed here for the project, which is India's first statewide broadband project.
"Cisco has designed and implemented the network infrastructure for AP Fibre Net using statewide high-speed, aerial-optical fibre leveraging existing electricity distribution assets," the company said in a statement.

Also, Cisco will set up an Internet of Everything (IoE) Innovation Centre in Visakhapatnam to foster regional innovation and will enable partners and startups to build solutions around IoE and engage in rapid prototyping.

In addition to this, Cisco will also invest in an advanced Technology Center of Excellence and Research Lab in the Institute of Digital Technology (IDT), Tirupati, focused on cyber security, smart city and manufacturing solutions.
The company also announced plans for the expansion of Cisco Networking Academy in 70 colleges to train approximately 10,000 new students in the state of Andhra Pradesh over next three years.

"Andhra Pradesh is a blueprint for a digital state for other states to follow. Our investment is a commitment to help the state develop an ecosystem of talent, entrepreneurship and innovation to drive growth, generate jobs, diversify the economy and support sustainable growth," John Chambers, Executive Chairman, Cisco said.
Speaking during the occasion, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu said his vision for the state is to digitally empower every citizen, enhance quality of life of citizens, accelerate economic competitiveness, boost local innovation and become a knowledge and technology hub of the country.
"Digital Andhra Pradesh is a step towards realising that vision," he added.