Communications in Indonesia
Encyclopedia
Indonesia
has had a complex history of communications due to its spread over an extended archipelago - the importance on non-electronic means in the past has given away to a considerable infrastructure of telecommunications in the contemporary Indonesia.
colonized Indonesia, constructing a more elaborate communication system, both within Indonesia and to other countries. The first connection to Australia
was an undersea telegraph cable that was completed on 18 November 1871, connecting Java to Darwin
, and eventually to the Australian Overland Telegraph Line
across Australia.
After gaining Independence, Indonesia started to develop its own communication system, generally following the rest of the world. The construction of communication towers and launch of the Palapa series of communication satellites was done during the New Order
period.
optical
submarine telecommunications cable lands at both Medan
and Jakarta
connecting Europe with South eastern Asia (several countries up to Japan
) and Australia (Perth
).
Domestically, Indonesia has good coverage for media across most major islands, although smaller and less populated Islands do not always receive attention from media companies, and rely on satellite communication.
and Koran Tempo
are circulated around Indonesia daily and are relatively simple to obtain. Others are island- or city-specific, and is usually not distributed to other regions.
By June 2011, all sub-districts in Indonesia will be connected with internet.
's Telecommunications Regulatory Environment (TRE) index, which summarizes stakeholders’ perception on certain TRE dimensions, provides insight into how conducive the environment is for further development and progress. The most recent survey was conducted in July 2008 in eight Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines. The tool measured seven dimensions: i) market entry; ii) access to scarce resources; iii) interconnection; iv) tariff regulation; v) anti-competitive practices; and vi) universal services; vii) quality of service, for the fixed, mobile and broadband sectors.
Below-average scores received in all sectors and across dimensions reflect general dissatisfaction of the TRE in Indonesia. However, this does not mean that respondents have ignored recent developments. The relatively healthy growth in mobile sector is reflected in the higher TRE scores received by the sector for most dimensions, when compared to the fixed sector. On average, the mobile sector scores best, with fixed and broadband following.
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
has had a complex history of communications due to its spread over an extended archipelago - the importance on non-electronic means in the past has given away to a considerable infrastructure of telecommunications in the contemporary Indonesia.
History
Indonesia has long since been using traditional forms of slayed communications between various islands and villages. It was not until the sixteenth century when the DutchDutch Empire
The Dutch Empire consisted of the overseas territories controlled by the Dutch Republic and later, the modern Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, but based on military conquest of already-existing...
colonized Indonesia, constructing a more elaborate communication system, both within Indonesia and to other countries. The first connection to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
was an undersea telegraph cable that was completed on 18 November 1871, connecting Java to Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
, and eventually to the Australian Overland Telegraph Line
Australian Overland Telegraph Line
The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a 3200 km telegraph line that connected Darwin with Port Augusta in South Australia. Completed in 1872 the Overland Telegraph Line allowed fast communication between Australia and the rest of the world. An additional section was added in 1877 with the...
across Australia.
After gaining Independence, Indonesia started to develop its own communication system, generally following the rest of the world. The construction of communication towers and launch of the Palapa series of communication satellites was done during the New Order
New Order (Indonesia)
The New Order is the term coined by former Indonesian President Suharto to characterize his regime as he came to power in 1966. Suharto used this term to contrast his rule with that of his predecessor, Sukarno...
period.
Infrastructure
A number of lines connect Indonesia to international communication routes. For example, the SEA-ME-WE 3SEA-ME-WE 3 (cable system)
SEA-ME-WE 3 or South-East Asia - Middle East - Western Europe 3 is an optical submarine telecommunications cable linking those regions and is the longest in the world, completed in late 2000. It is operated by India's Tata Communications and 92 other investors from the telecom industry...
optical
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
submarine telecommunications cable lands at both Medan
Medan
- Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang....
and Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
connecting Europe with South eastern Asia (several countries up to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
) and Australia (Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
).
Domestically, Indonesia has good coverage for media across most major islands, although smaller and less populated Islands do not always receive attention from media companies, and rely on satellite communication.
Printed Media
Indonesia has a vast list of printed media, in the forms of newspapers or magazines. Some, such as KompasKompas
Kompas is the most widely read newspaper in Indonesia. Published by Kompas-Gramedia Group Publishing since June 28, 1965, it has a reputation in Indonesia for high-quality writing and investigative journalism...
and Koran Tempo
Koran Tempo
Koran Tempo is an Indonesian newspaper in Indonesia. It is owned by PT Tempo Inti Media Harian.It was first published on April 2, 2001 with a circulation of 100,000 daily.The newsstand price of Koran Tempo is Rp 2,300.-External links:**...
are circulated around Indonesia daily and are relatively simple to obtain. Others are island- or city-specific, and is usually not distributed to other regions.
Telephone
- TelephoneTelephoneThe telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
s - main lines in use: 9.99 million (2004) - Telephones - mobile cellular: At end of 2010, the mobile cellular penetration rate standing at around 67 percent (22 percent at end of 2006).
- Telephone system: domestic service fair, international service good
- domestic: interisland microwaveMicrowaveMicrowaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
system and HF radio police net; domestic satellite communications system - international: satellite earth stations - 2 IntelsatIntelsatIntelsat, Ltd. is a communications satellite services provider.Originally formed as International Telecommunications Satellite Organization , it was—from 1964 to 2001—an intergovernmental consortium owning and managing a constellation of communications satellites providing international broadcast...
(1 Indian OceanIndian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
and 1 Pacific OceanPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
)
- domestic: interisland microwave
Radio
- RadioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcast stations: AM 678, FM 43, shortwave 82 (1998) - Radios: 31.5 million (1997)
Television
- TelevisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcast stations: 11 national TV, 60 local TV (From AC Nielsen Report - first Semester 2005): - Televisions: 13.75 million (1997)
Internet
- Internet Service ProviderInternet service providerAn Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s (ISPs): 24 (1999) - Country code (Top-level domain): .id.id.id is the Internet country code top-level domain for Indonesia. Currently, usage of second level domains appears to be limited to the domains listed below.-Second level domains:These are second level domains:* ac.id — Academic Institutions...
By June 2011, all sub-districts in Indonesia will be connected with internet.
Regulations
The control over media in Indonesia is governed by the Ministry of Communications and InformaticsTelecommunications Regulatory Environment in Indonesia
LIRNEasiaLIRNEasia
LIRNEasia is an information and communication technology policy and regulation think-tank active across the Asia Pacific region. The organization is incorporated under the Sri Lankan law as a non-profit organization. It was launched in September 2004 under the leadership of...
's Telecommunications Regulatory Environment (TRE) index, which summarizes stakeholders’ perception on certain TRE dimensions, provides insight into how conducive the environment is for further development and progress. The most recent survey was conducted in July 2008 in eight Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines. The tool measured seven dimensions: i) market entry; ii) access to scarce resources; iii) interconnection; iv) tariff regulation; v) anti-competitive practices; and vi) universal services; vii) quality of service, for the fixed, mobile and broadband sectors.
Below-average scores received in all sectors and across dimensions reflect general dissatisfaction of the TRE in Indonesia. However, this does not mean that respondents have ignored recent developments. The relatively healthy growth in mobile sector is reflected in the higher TRE scores received by the sector for most dimensions, when compared to the fixed sector. On average, the mobile sector scores best, with fixed and broadband following.