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The telecommunications regulatory body is preparing a number
of policies in order to gradually lower Internet charges, currently
among the highest in the world, by 50 percent within four years.
"Compared to other countries, our Internet connection charges are too
high. We have studied what causes this, and have also responded through
various policies and initiatives," Indonesian Telecommunications
Regulatory Board (BRTI) spokesperson Heru Sutadi told The Jakarta Post
on Sunday.
According to the latest figures from the International
Telecommunications Union, Indonesia is 47th in the world in terms of
lowest Internet tariffs, with the average charge in Indonesia being
US$5.07 per 100 kilobytes per second on a direct connection to an
Internet service provider, or what is also known as a leased line.
The is far more expensive than other countries in the region, such as
Singapore, in 18th place on $1.59, Thailand, in 24th on $2.38,
Malaysia, in 28th on $2.57, and Vietnam, in 40th on $3.69.
Meanwhile, the three cheapest countries are Japan in first place on
$0.007, South Korea in second on 0.008 and Taiwan and China in joint
third, both on $0.18 each.
Heru said that under the new Information and Communications Technology
(ICT) infrastructure road map, the government hoped to reduce broadband
charges by more than half to about $2.40 per 100 kilobytes per second
by 2011.
The most significant step on the road to lower charges, he said, would
be a review of the regulations on the determining of fixed-line charges.
"The existing price formula, which was introduced in 1998, is no longer
suitable for current conditions. We will reevaluate this so as to
produce connections that are approximately 40 percent cheaper," he said.
The reason behind the current high charges, he said, was the lack of
competition for connection to the international backbone between
dominant players such as PT Telkom and PT Indosat.
"The dominant players in the market were able to set pricing as they
pleased. Now, we have issued licenses to new players so as to encourage
more competition," he said.
Another step designed to expand the supply of network connections, he
said, was the Palapa Ring project, which aimed to link the entire
archipelago with a fiberoptic network that would serve as the national
backbone not only for voice services but also for the Internet.
Earlier in November, BRTI reported that internet penetration in
Indonesia amounted to only 9.1 percent of the total population, giving
about 20 million active users, 70 percent of whom are located in
Greater Jakarta. The country also had some 7,602 Internet kiosks.
"The current cost of fiberoptics has declined from Rp 5 million (about
$538) per two kilometers previously to Rp 3 million.
That too will lower costs and help speed up network expansion," Heru
said.
Aside from introducing new regulations and holding tenders for the
development of the network, the government also plans to make a number
of technical improvements next year, including better Internet protocol
(IP) address and Internet exchange (IX) management, improved
domain-name service administration, and migration from IP version 4 to
IP version 6.
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