Kominfo Speeds Up 4G BTS Development In Underdeveloped Areas Of Indonesia

Menkominfo Johnny G Plate (doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kemenkominfo) affirms its commitment to catch up with the underdeveloped telecommunication infrastructure in underdeveloped, frontier and outermost areas. This is done in the distribution of 4G internet in Indonesia.

"Infrastructure development is to ensure (telecommunications) signals in this frontier region," said the Minister of Communication and Information, Johnny G. Plate, Friday, March 26.

According to Kominfo's records, out of a total of 9,113 villages or wards that enter the 3T area, there are 1,209 points that have base transceiver station (BTS) towers for 2G and 3G signals, which are upgraded to 4G by both the Telecommunication and Information Accessibility Agency and cellular operators.

There are still 7,904 other villages and kelurahan in the 3T area, based on Kominfo data, which have not been connected to the 4G network.

In this meeting that was held for several days in Bali, Kominfo continued their commitment to the construction of BTS in areas that have not been touched by 4G.

Kominfo's target is that there will be 4,200 BTS towers built this year in the 3T area, while the other 3,704 will be completed in 2022.

In total, there are 12,548 blankspots, or those that have not been reached by 4G signals in Indonesia, divided into 9,113 points in the 3T area and 3,435 are non-3T villages or sub-districts.

The development of BTS tower infrastructure in non-3T areas is the responsibility of cellular operators because it is a commercially promising area.

The construction of BTS in the 3T area is carried out with a blended financing scheme, which consists of a pure rupiah component from the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget, Non-Tax State Revenues for the Communication and Information Sector and Universal Service Obligation (USO).

In addition to building infrastructure, it is also necessary to discuss further steps once passive infrastructure is available (for example, BTS towers) of course there is a need for active infrastructure (in this case a 4G signal).

"The government has taken steps. It is hoped that by the middle of this year it can be completed with cellular operators so that gradually, physical construction is completed, 4G signal coverage spreads throughout the country according to the results of development," said Johnny.

In addition to building BTS, the government through Kominfo and BAKTI Kominfo is also planning a SATRIA-1 Multifunction Satellite to provide internet access to hundreds of thousands of public service points.