Internet providers have good business prospects<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Business prospects for service and information-
\nproviders of the Internet superhighway are still good, but the
\nnetwork's rapid growth in Indonesia may slow down if the
\ngovernment decides it has a negative impact, an academician says.<\/p>\n
Professor Dimyati Hartono of Diponegoro University's School of
\nLaw in Semarang, Central Java, said yesterday that there are
\npresently less than 10 Internet service providers in the country.<\/p>\n
\"This, in addition to the fact that the government has decided
\nto open up the information business, will allow more companies to
\nenter the business,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Dimyati said, however, that the government may restrict or
\neven close the sector if it considers the number of providers is
\nenough or if the network seems to have a negative effect on the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
He made his remarks during a seminar on the prospects and
\nfuture challenges of the information business in Indonesia, which
\nwas held yesterday to commemorate the Antara news agency's 58th
\nanniversary.<\/p>\n
Dimyati said that a company which intends to enter the
\nInternet service business in Indonesia may presently face hurdles
\ncaused by poor infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\"But the aspect of infrastructure I am talking about is not
\nthe hardware and software facilities, but rather the licensing
\nprocedures,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"What is needed is legal certainty from the government and
\nconsistency in applying the law,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Companies intending to enter the information business, he
\nsaid, must pay special attention to the requirements and expiry
\ndate of the permits awarded by the government because they are
\ncrucial to determining the company's investment and return on
\ninvestment strategies.<\/p>\n
Dimyati felt the government should concentrate less on
\ncreating regulations for the information sector and understand
\nthat openness, democratization and free access to global
\ninformation is inevitable.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that Internet users, for example, presently
\nhave access to U.S. President Bill Clinton, Congress members and
\nother U.S. government institutions.<\/p>\n
Singapore, he added, is also aware of the power of information
\nand currently 30 percent of the country's population use the
\nsuperhighway.<\/p>\n
There are presently five Internet service providers in
\nIndonesia, the newest one being PT Cyberindo Aditama (CBNnet),
\nwhich was launched last month.<\/p>\n
The other four are PT Indo Internet (Indonet), PT Aplikanusa
\nLintasartha (Idola), PT Rajasa Media (Radnet) and PT Sistelindo
\nMitralintas (Inet).<\/p>\n
According to Onno W. Purbo from the Bandung Institute of
\nTechnology's Computer Network Research Group, there are presently
\nabout 10,639 Internet users in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Of this number, 29.5 percent are in universities, 5.8 percent
\nin research institutions, one percent in non-governmental
\norganizations, 20.9 percent in government institutions and 42.8
\npercent in industry and commercial centers.<\/p>\n
Approximately 71.7 percent of the users are in Jakarta and
\n25.7 percent live in Bandung.<\/p>\n
Onno said the Internet's global market already reaches 32
\nmillion users and is growing at a rate of 10 percent a month.
\n(pwn)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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