Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday launched the first phase of Fiber Grid project to provide broadband connectivity at cheap rate.

Andhra Pradesh government signed an MoU with Cisco on Thursday as part of the inauguration of India's first statewide broadband project 'AP FiberNet' in Visakhapatnam.

Naidu said that digital transformation was the most transformative means to ignite sustainable growth and improve society. His government's aim was to provide Internet connection to all households in the state as part of Digital India campaign, he said.

Under the project, Internet connections would be provided at cheap rate in districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram by April. It will cover the rest of the state by end of July this year.

Under the project, 15Mbps broadband connection will be provided at Rs. 149 per month to households and 100Mbps connection for offices at Rs. 999 per month. Electrical poles will be used to lay overhead fibre net cable instead of underground cable to save on the cost.

Executive chairman of Cisco John T Chambers said 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.