The East Palapa Ring Package Project will reach 35 districts / cities spread across East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, Papua and West Papua regions with a total length of fiber optic cable of approximately 8,454 km.
The government will spend Rp 2.7 trillion (US$207 million) on broadband infrastructure projects as part of its efforts to close the gap in internet access between rural and urban areas across Indonesia. The Palapa Ring projects aim to lay out 4,700 kilometers of undersea fibre-optic cable as the backbone for the nation’s telecommunications system.
The USO-based Palapa Ring Project (Universal Service Obligation) is the construction of fiber-optic network of the national broadband telecommunication system that serves the information toll connecting all districts / cities in Indonesia in areas not commercially advantageous. The Palapa Ring project is divided into three packages: West, Central and East. The East Palapa Ring Package Project will reach 35 districts / cities spread across East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, Papua and West Papua regions with a total length of fiber optic cable of approximately 8,454 km. The value of the project reaches Rp. 5.1 Trillion.
The Palapa Ring project aims to meet the needs of public infrastructure particularly in eastern Indonesia in the telecommunications sector as well as the acceleration of the implementation of the Strategic Infrastructure / National Priority Projects as stated in Presidential Decree no. 3 Year 2016.
The implementation model of the Palapa Ring Project is Cooperation between Government and Business Entities (KPBU) in the telecommunication sector by applying the availability of payment (AP) scheme. The Palapa Ring project shows the government’s seriousness in establishing cooperation with the business entity (investor) in infrastructure development in Indonesia.
When the new infrastructure is fully operational, it is expected that more households will be able to enjoy faster internet connections. According to the Indonesian Internet Providers Association (APJII), out of a population of 250 million, only 88 million had access to the internet in 2014. Poor infrastructure has been blamed for the extremely slow internet connection in the country.
Keywords: Papua, West Papua, Indonesia, Infrastructure, Development, Internet, Palapa Ring, Eastern Indonesia, Telecommunication, Connection.
