Hitching ride on information superhighway
Hitching ride on information superhighway
JAKARTA (JP): A big game was taking place in Hal Sullivan's home of Maryland in the U.S. Sport lovers packed the stadium while the ticketless multitude watched it on their TV sets at home.
Hal was in Indonesia. Too bad. The long-awaited game was not aired by local television stations. But he knew exactly what was going on in the field because of the Internet. And he faxed his comments on the competition to his sister, who was watching the game in Maryland.
She was really surprised as she had no idea that the game's score could reach Hal that fast.
"She was so surprised that she called us in Indonesia right away," Hal's wife, Melva Nababan Sullivan, told The Jakarta Post.
People can use the Internet for fun, but it can also be used for business, academic, government and organization purposes.
It is estimated that there are over 30 million people around the world using the Internet's global computer network. The first local commercial Internet provider, Indonet, began operation in September 1994, followed by Radnet, Idola, IBM Global Network, Cybernet and Vissionnet. Several other companies are planning to plunge into the business.
Some universities are connected to the Internet, but limit access to their teaching staff.
There are only 10,000 people in Indonesia who use the Internet. Most of them are in Jakarta, and the rest are in Bandung, Surabaya and Medan. This is a very small number, even compared to the number of Internet users in neighboring countries. In Singapore, 20,000 people use the Internet, while in Malaysia there are about 30,000 users.
A four-day Internet conference was held last week at the Grand Hyatt in Jakarta. The conference featured international experts in the field of business, communications and the media. Some sessions, however, had to be canceled owing to a lack of participants. It failed to attract people apparently because of the high registration fee -- Rp 1.3 million a day -- not necessarily because of a lack of public interest.
Taufik Akbar, the president of PT Aplikasi Nusa Lintasarta, which launched the Idola Internet provider, believes the Internet has a bright future in Indonesia.
"We have good business prospects," he said.
Taufik has good reason to be optimistic. Information plays a crucial role in the world today. Many advantages can be gleaned from speeding up the on-ramp to the information superhighway. Information about education, business, politics, environment, sex, crime -- any subject really -- can be found on the Net. People can also communicate with other users all over the world through electronic mail.
"I have just learned about the benefits of the Internet. I want to use it to communicate with my child who is studying abroad," a woman told FeMale radio during a discussion about the Internet.
One reason the Internet isn't popular here is that Indonesians don't understand the benefits of the Net. Another reason is that they can't afford them.
Registration fees range between Rp 50,000 and Rp 100,000. IBM Global Network charges a user US$19 a month for 10 hours of connection time, and $2 for every additional hour. An individual user who gets the access from Radnet pays Rp 95,000 for 40 hours of connection time, and Rp 3,000 for each additional hour.
Soon the price might no longer be a limitation.
Idola, which has 1,000 users, is working with Pos Indonesia to provide Internet service at post offices in every province.
"We are still working on the plan, but we hope this can be realized at the end of the month or in February," Taufik said.
The Internet service at post offices will reach people who can't afford their own computer, modem and telephone line.
Singapore, the United States and several other countries have Cybercafes, where visitors can surf the Net while sipping cappuccinos. Indonesia has not got that far, but Idola is arranging free weekly training for people interested in the Internet.
"You don't need to be registered as a user to join the training sessions," said Arief R. Yulianto, a marketing executive for the company. (sim)