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)