{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1758339,
        "msgid": "stealth-internet-cables-reappear-in-badung-unruly-providers-face-sanctions-1779541982",
        "date": "2026-05-22 18:43:16",
        "title": "Stealth Internet Cables Reappear in Badung, Unruly Providers Face Sanctions",
        "author": "",
        "source": "DETIK_BALI",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Infrastructure",
        "summary": "In Badung Regency, Bali, illicit 'stealth' internet cables have resurfaced despite repeated cleanups by the Badung Regency's Integrated Utilities Task Force and Apjatel Bali. The joint enforcement operation with Satpol PP aims to tighten monitoring and penalties as many providers operate without official permits or adequate budgets to underground cables, with authorities set to identify owners and enforce sanctions. The crackdown targets strategic tourism, industrial zones and densely populated areas with a phased undergrounding programme.",
        "content": "<p>The Bali chapter of the Association of Telecommunication Network\nOperators (Apjatel Bali) has again found several illegal, \u2018stealth\u2019\ncables belonging to unscrupulous providers still mounted on utility\npoles, despite repeated clearances by the Badung Regency\u2019s Integrated\nUtilities Task Force. The cables were found on Pantai Berawa Street and\nJalan Dewi Sri in Kuta and were still installed despite enforcement\nhaving been carried out several years previously. To anticipate further\nviolations, Apjatel joined forces with the Regency\u2019s Civil Service\nPolice Unit (Satpol PP) during the enforcement, to tighten supervision\nand enforcement in the field. \u2018The cables up there have already been\ncut, so they are not in operation. Sometimes, even after cutting, a few\ncables are still found installed overhead. We suspect the unscrupulous\noperators,\u2019 he said. \u2018We cut those as well. Later, Satpol PP or Dinas\nPUPR will report to us, and we will ask colleagues to check who owns it,\nthen cut it again,\u2019 said Dodi Simanjuntak, Regional Coordinator of\nApjatel Bali, on Friday (22 May 2026). The operation is part of a\nroutine programme with the Public Works and Public Housing Service\n(Dinas PUPR) Badung scheduled twice a month, specifically the second and\nfourth weeks. Before execution, all operators were given deadlines to\nrelocate their networks underground and migrate active customer channels\nto prevent network disturbances. According to Dodi, the proliferation of\nillegal above-ground cables in public spaces is believed to be carried\nout by small internet service providers. Most of them embed aerial\ncables because they do not have official permission from the Ministry of\nCommunications and Digital Affairs, and budget constraints limit\nunderground cabling. \u2018Yes, many are pulling cables themselves. Some may\nnot know about the SJUT (Integrated Utility Network Facilities)\nprogramme in Badung Regency or perhaps budget constraints, so they still\ngo overhead. But we, together with Dinas PUPR, have agreed that if there\nare still cables overhead, we will identify who owns them and summon\nthat provider,\u2019 he insisted. By mid-2026, the joint team had recorded at\nleast five to six hotspots in Badung\u2019s tourist, industrial and other\ndensely populated areas that had been cleared of messy cables. Yet some\nareas previously cleared, such as Jalan Pantai Berawa and Jalan Dewi\nSri, have again been infiltrated by new overhead cabling. \u2018For example,\non Jalan Pantai Berawa we see early signs again; sometimes on Jalan Dewi\nSri, we cut cables in 2025 and now they are reappearing one by one. We\nwill identify which provider owns them,\u2019 Dodi noted. Apjatel emphasises\nthat the ongoing daily oversight is ultimately down to each network\noperator\u2019s management. If violations are found, Dinas PUPR will summon\nthe company\u2019s top management for strict sanctions to ensure compliance\ndown to technicians in the field. \u2018This programme is good; it improves\naesthetics and the city becomes less chaotic. It will also avoid issues\nduring Bali\u2019s Ngaben and Ogoh-ogoh parades,\u2019 said Dodi. As of now, 38\ntelecom providers are officially listed as Apjatel Bali members.\nHowever, the actual number of operators on the ground is believed to be\nhigher because many do not join after being hindered by Local Network\n(Jarlok) and Network Layer (Jarlap) permits from the central government.\nMeanwhile, Badung\u2019s Kasatpol PP I Gusti Agung Ketut Suryanegara said\nenforcement of optical cable tidying in the coming months would\nprioritise strategic areas. The routes already have integrated\nunderground cable duct infrastructure. \u2018This year, 2026, this is the\nfifth enforcement operation; 12 locations remain. It is conducted every\nFriday; if not Friday, then weekly or every two weeks. Priority is given\nto places where the road facilities already provide underground cable\nducts,\u2019 Suryanegara said. Regulationally, enforcement against\nnon-compliant telecom operators is based on Badung Regency Regional\nRegulation No.\u00a019 of 2016, a decade old. The local government is only\nable to intensify on-field action in the past three years because it\nmust ensure underground facilities are ready before forcing networks to\nrelocate. \u2018So far, five operations have run smoothly. Apjatel also\nsupports this; there has been no public resistance. All is going well,\u2019\nSuryanegara said. The current street-cleaning operation also took place\non Friday morning along Teuku Umar Barat to the north. The joint team\naims to clear 2.5 kilometres of aerial cables. The scale of the cleanup\nis staged region by region to align with the availability of underground\nutility pipes provided by Dinas PUPR Badung.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stealth-internet-cables-reappear-in-badung-unruly-providers-face-sanctions-1779541982",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}