APJII: The COVID-19 Pandemic Increases Internet Users In Indonesia By Nearly 200 Million

JAKARTA - Internet use in Indonesia is known to have increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Where the spread of the virus makes schools and work (work from home) use a lot of online systems.

According to the head of the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII), Jamalul Izza, the number of internet users in Indonesia until Q2 this year has increased to 73.7 percent of the population or the equivalent of 196.7 million users. This number is equivalent to 196.7 million internet users with a population in the country of 266.9 million based on BPS data.

"This is because fast internet or broadband infrastructure in Indonesia is increasingly evenly distributed with the Palapa Ring, digital transformation is getting more massive due to online learning and the policy of working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic since last March," said Jamal in a written statement received by VOI, Tuesday. , 10 November.

Jamal added, the increase was also driven by APJII programs such as Desa Internet Mandiri which was supported by around 500 Association members. "This survey illustrates that there is an increase in the number of Indonesian internet users by 8.9 percent or the equivalent of 25.5 million users in the middle of this year. "said Jamal.

Meanwhile, users in Java Island still contributed the most to the increase, namely 56.4 percent. The second largest internet user comes from Sumatra Island with 22.1 percent. Followed by Sulawesi Island 7 percent, Kalimantan 6.3 percent, Bali-Nusa Tenggara 5.2 percent and Maluku-Papua 3 percent.

"The contribution of users living on the island of Java rose to 56.4 percent from 55.7 percent in the previous year. Because the development of internet infrastructure in Java continues to grow, users also grow," added Jamal.

He also said that what is interesting in this year's survey is the data on internet penetration in provincial capitals. Some have higher internet penetration compared to provincial and even national penetration, which averages 73.7 percent. For example, DKI Jakarta 85 percent, Bandung 82.5 percent and Surabaya 83 percent, even in Serang, Banten the total penetration is 100 percent.

"This is new data, we made internet penetration in the provincial capital this year to support 14 APJII regional administrators in Indonesia. Next year, we will calculate the penetration data in the regency capital," said Jamal.

Others, Jamal also highlighted the behavior of internet users, especially on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of users have accessed the internet for more than 8 hours a day. Then there is a shift in user behavior during the pandemic, including from online media content that users access.

"This year the majority of online media content accessed by users is educational content and school websites, due to distance learning activities during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the most widely accessed entertainment content is online videos, 49.3 percent, online games 16.5 percent and music streaming 15, 3 percent.

The user's favorite social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. As many as 61 percent of respondents frequently access YouTube to watch film, music and sports content.

In addition, the WhatsApp chat application is also widely used beyond Line and FB Messenger, including for video calls. Fintech applications, mobile banking and internet banking are the three main financial services most frequently accessed by Indonesian internet users today.

"There are five main reasons for them accessing the internet, namely because of the need for social media, message communication, online games and online shopping," said Jamal.