Internet Growth in Indonesia - Factors Encourage It
First of all is accessibility. The internet access in Indonesia must be provided not only for people who live in big cities like Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya, but also for people in every nook and cranny of the country. According to an Apricot forum held in Bali last year, the internet penetration in Indonesia is still near to the ground, which is only 8.1 %. Indonesia, in fact, is in the 13th place for internet using from all over the world. But, with the estimated population of 221.4 million, the internet penetration number becomes incredibly small.
Another factor, or may be the most important factor, that encourages the internet growth in Indonesia is bandwidth capacity. In 2007, Telkom Co., Ltd., joined the Asia-America Gateway (AAG) consortium in order to get a bigger bandwidth quota up to 70 GBps. This membership, which cost 40 million USD, has given lots of benefits either for internet users in Indonesia or Telkom Co., Ltd., itself. The improvement in customer service and more accessibility are the two kinds of benefits provided by Telkom Co., Ltd.,. But, the main benefit that we can get from a bigger bandwidth is that we can access the internet faster.
Last but not least is the reachable tariff. By having a bigger bandwidth, the tariff charged to the internet users is automatically less expensive. And if the tariff is less expensive, then the internet access could be used by people in suburban areas. The government has been trying to keep on reducing the internet access tariff so that it could be accessed by all walks of life in Indonesia.
In conclusion, the wide range of accessibility, the bigger bandwidth capacity, and the reachable tariff are the three factors that encourage the internet growth in Indonesia which are related to each other and definitely need supports from both government and the people in Indonesia.
