Growth of Internet users slowing down<\/p>\n
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The surge in the amount of Internet users in this country has
\nbeen slowing this year after doubling each year since 1998, as
\nits market, limited to the middle class and students, has reached
\na saturation level.<\/p>\n
Heru Nugroho, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Internet
\nService Providers Association (APJII), said on Monday that the
\nnumber of Internet users this year would only top 5 million, a
\nslight increase from 4.2 million in 2001.<\/p>\n
For the last three years, the amount of Internet users had
\nbeen growing significantly from 512,000 in 1998 to 1 million in
\n1999 and 1.9 million in 2000.<\/p>\n
The current 4.2 million users also include some 581,000
\nInternet subscribers.<\/p>\n
Heru said that the increase in Internet users in the first
\nthree years was because many ISPs targeted their products to
\noffices and Internet cafes.<\/p>\n
"But every office now has an Internet connection," he told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Aside from offices, the Internet industry targets students.
\nBut, in fact, the number of students who became Internet users
\nhas not increased much.<\/p>\n
"So the market will not grow significantly," he said.<\/p>\n
A survey by the association showed that most Internet users
\nwere employees of private companies and a quarter were students,
\nincluding high school students (34.5 percent), university
\nstudents at the undergraduate level (39.8 percent) and graduate
\nstudents (5.7 percent).<\/p>\n
The survey also showed that office and Internet kiosks were
\nthe two most popular places where people used the Internet.<\/p>\n
Heru added that the current slowdown in the amount of Internet
\nusers was because there was hardly any effort by the government
\nor industry players to introduce the Internet to a wider market.<\/p>\n
Richardus Eko Indrajit, an IT expert, concurred with Heru,
\nsaying that the government had made several policies that had
\nproved to be not supportive for bringing more Internet users on
\nboard.<\/p>\n
He cited the government's policy to allow only several
\ncompanies to operate the Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP)
\nservice.<\/p>\n
Richardus added that introducing the Internet for education or
\nsmall business purposes would lure more people to use it.<\/p>\n
Heru said that efforts to educate the public about the
\nbenefits of the Internet were few and far between. Data from
\nAPJII shows that of the 4.2 million Internet users, only 25
\npercent were active users who used the Internet on a daily basis
\nfor various purposes, including browsing for information and
\nchecking email.<\/p>\n
"No one here bothers to educate people on how to benefit from
\nthe Internet," Heru said.<\/p>\n
Rising telecommunications costs have also reduced the public's
\ninterest in the Internet.<\/p>\n
State-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom Tbk increased
\nlocal and long distance phone charges as well as the monthly
\nconnection fee by up to 17.9 percent this year. It was part of
\nthe government's three-year plan to jack up phone charges by
\n45.49 percent in a bid to help attract new investment to the
\nfixed-line telecommunications sector.<\/p>\n
"Despite the rise in phone rates, the government should find a
\nway to boost Internet usage, such as giving a discount to
\nInternet users," Heru said.<\/p>\n
Heru warned that unless the government changes its policy, the
\nwhole Internet industry might be set for a decline.<\/p>",
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