Indonesia Urged to Start Laying Foundations for 6G Network Adoption

The Chairman of the Indonesian Telematics Society (Mastel), Sarwoto Atmosutarno, believes Indonesia needs to lay the foundations for 6G network technology development as soon as possible. The step is considered crucial given that the adoption rate of 5G services in the country remains relatively low compared with other nations.

According to Sarwoto, the condition of 5G adoption, which has yet to become widespread, is in fact a momentum for Indonesia to prepare to leap to the next generation. “If 5G is sluggish, there is no problem with running towards 6G. Just skip ahead. It depends on market needs and the economics,” said Sarwoto following a National Seminar and Workshop titled ‘National Strategic Value of ICT from the Upper 6GHz Spectrum Allocation for 5G-Advanced and 6G Mobile Broadband in Indonesia’ in Jakarta on Thursday (9 July).

Sarwoto stressed that planning towards 6G must begin now so that Indonesia has sufficient time to prepare a supporting ecosystem. He voiced concern about the risk of national unpreparedness when the technology starts to be implemented globally in the future.

“If we do not plan it properly, suddenly the international environment will already be ready, whilst we have only just begun preparing,” he asserted.

Whilst encouraging preparations for 6G, Sarwoto explained that this does not mean halting the ongoing construction of 5G networks. The primary focus is providing basic infrastructure, particularly the availability of frequency spectrum that is flexible for various technologies.

“If the highway is already there, it will later depend on which technology runs on top of it. It could be 5G, or it could develop directly into 6G,” he added.

On the other hand, Mastel acknowledged that network development by telecommunications operators will still depend heavily on market needs and business viability. At present, massive investment in 5G is considered not entirely attractive for operators.

By preparing frequency spectrum early, the government is expected to provide certainty for industry players to design more efficient technology transition strategies, both for optimising 5G-Advanced and welcoming the 6G era.