The Ministry of Communication and Informatics of the Republic of Indonesia is trying to equalize telecommunication needs throughout Indonesia. They expect all parties to support the optical cable network development, one of which is planned to be implemented in Papua.
Optical Cable Network Development Plan in Papua
The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Indonesian: Kominfo) seeks to optimize fiber optic traffic and utilization. One of the efforts made is to plan fiber optic cable development, including installing and repairing fiber optic cable networks.
Challenges Installing and Repairing Fiber Optic Cable Networks in Papua
Papua’s natural areas and landscapes are a real challenge in this process.
- As many people already know, Indonesia’s land and sea areas are areas that have many volcanoes. This causes cable networks to often suffer damage due to volcanic eruptions. Damage to cable networks on land and under the sea can cause telecommunications network disruptions.
- Not only that, bad weather and special events can also cause telecommunications disruptions. For example, the bad weather that happened in Papua caused the cable to be damaged. As a result, telecommunication disruption occurred, which caused the community not to be able to establish long-distance communication.
Kominfo Strives to Meet the Public’s Need
Therefore, Kominfo strives to meet the public’s need for good and quality telecommunications services throughout Indonesia. For this reason, Kominfo collaborates with various parties to make this happen. One of the parties involved is the operator of cellular operators such as Telkom.
Meanwhile, one of the destinations for installing an optical cable network is in the eastern part of Indonesia, namely Papua. Telkom and the Jayapura District Communication and Informatics Office (Indonesian: Diskominfo) plan to build optical cable networks.
Reactions from Various Elements in Papua
It is planned that Telkom will install cable and tower networks in Areas II and III of Papua. Development in Area II covers the Sentani, Depapre, and West Sentani districts.
After that, the development will enter the Waibu District and then enter Area III. The districts included in Area III are the districts of Kemtuk, Namblong, Kemtuk Kresi, Nimbokrang, and Nimboran.
Unfortunately, not all parties in these districts react positively to the development of cable networks. One of them is people in the Nimbokrang district who reject the construction of the Telkom tower.
Several people put up a barrier for about a week in the area which will be the development target. One of them is at the Genyem T-junction. Residents who installed the barrier also asked for compensation.
Socialization Efforts
Responding to the positive and negative responses to the development of cable networks in several areas, Telkom Papua, together with Diskominfo and the local government, are trying to socialize and disseminate information to residents.
The socialization started with residents living in Area II and then continued with people living in Area III. After the residents of the Nimbokrang district received an explanation, it turned out that the reaction to installing the barrier was due to a misunderstanding.
Gustaf Griapon, head of the regional Diskominfo, said that Telkom had not coordinated the development in Jayapura Regency at that time. Telkom and the district government of Jayapura later provide explanations to the community at Nimbokrang with the Namblong customary council as the facilitator.
Meanwhile, the conference in Kemtuk Kresi, Jayapura Regency, took place smoothly. The chairman of the Klisi Tribe Customary Council, Dorteis Udam, was also present at the event. He acted as a meeting facilitator.
In addition, Dorteis also expressed his gratitude and appreciation for developing the telecommunications network at Kemtuk Kresi. In fact, the community will gladly provide land as a place for the construction of pole lines and fiber optic cables.
Additionally, he also said that the development of telecommunications infrastructure could provide significant benefits for development progress.
Meanwhile, the optical cable network development is expected to be completed by the end of April 2023. Therefore, the construction of this telecommunications network will involve the local community, such as village youths in the area, to help the development.
