The Minister Of Communication And Information Calls The HBS Satellite Project Stopped, Why?

The Kominfo HBS Satellite Project was canceled (photo: YouTube Kemkominfo TV)

JAKARTA - Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi revealed the latest news that the Hot Backup Satellite (HBS) project has been nominated or terminated.

"Not (postponed), termination because after being studied technically. Just ask the task force, the consideration is already there," Budi told the media crew after his press conference on October 20, at the Kominfo office, Jakarta.

According to Minister of Communication and Information Budi, the BAKTI Task Force team considered that this project needed to be stopped. However, Budi did not explain the reason. When confirmed by VOI until this writing was released, the head of the BAKTI Task Force, Sarwoto Atmosutarno, asked to wait for his official statement.

"Diterminasi, ya dihentikan. Artinya Begini, tim satgas menilai perlu dihentikan. Kalau teknis, tanya ke satgas jangan ke saya," tambah Budi lebih lanjut.

In March 2022, the Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics provided a Satellite Hot Backup (HBS) for risk mitigation of the SATRIA-1 Satellite which has a high complexity and potential for operational disruption.

Selain memiliki fungsi utama sebagai cadangan bagi SATRIA-1, Dirut BAKTI Kominfo saat itu, Anang Latief menyatakan penyediaan HBS ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kecepatan internet sekaligus meningkatkan user experience pengguna layanan akses internet untuk dukungan layanan publik.

Anang Latif also revealed that the procurement of Infrastructure (Capital Expenditure/capex) for HBS provision requires an investment fee of IDR 5,208,984,690,000, including VAT.

According to him, the potential beneficiaries of the HBS Project will first be used by agencies within the Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education in the 3T area.