Every District in Indonesia Will Be On the Net By June 2011

The Indonesian government has predicted that in June every district and subdistrict in Indonesia will be connected to the internet. This is in part thanks to the Palapa Ring Project, an effort to construct a better fiber network by bringing together telecommunications systems from every part of Indonesia with over 50000 km of fiber optic cable.

According to the Minister of Communication and Information, Mr. Tifatul Sembiring, so far 32,800 villages in Indonesia have been connected to the Internet. “Development for the Palapa Ring fiber-optic backbone is now running at 80%, and there is still about 10,000 square km in Eastern Indonesia left to go” he said.

The penetration of information and communication technology in rural areas is still low, so the government still very much needs to develop a rural information system. The government also encourages a healthy and safe internet usage to improve the living quality and welfare of the community. With the internet connected to every area, then all Indonesians can develop their technological capability with no space and time boundaries.

Although the development of the internet in Indonesia is quite high (with respect to social and digital media) but the quality and network coverage is still not evenly distributed throughout Indonesia. The internet distribution project gives hope for further development in Indonesia in the future.