Internet blackout fails to materialize

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Association of Indonesian Internet Service Providers (APJII) canceled at the last minute a planned three-day Internet blackout because of objections from its members.

The chairman of APJII, Heru Nugroho, said he regretted that APJII's members were not united enough to make the decision on the blackout.

"The decision to shut down the Indonesian Internet Exchange (IIX) was canceled last night because of severe differences of opinions among us," he said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Heru said the members of APJII had agreed to launch the blackout starting on Wednesday morning, in protest of government inaction in regulating the industry.

APJII currently has 60 active members throughout Indonesia. Several members, including four prominent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) -- PT Telkom, PT Indosat, PT M-Web Indonesia and PT Bolehmail -- would not consent to the planned blackout.

Telecommunications expert Roy Suryo said the cancellation of the blackout proved there was friction inside the association.

"The solidity of the association is now in question. It was odd that on May. 7, they hastily and definitely insisted on shutting shut down the IIX, but later they canceled. I think they were just bluffing to get the government's attention," said Roy.

If it had gone ahead, the blackout would have shutdown the Indonesian Internet Exchange -- the local backbone for all ISPs in Indonesia -- making local websites, portals and Internet banking services inaccessible.

The association is upset about the recent raids by the police and city officials on Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) operators and 2.4 GHz frequency band operators. Although the government has banned these operators, they are allowed to continue doing business until the end of this month, according to a government decree. So the raids were seen as too hasty.

The ISPs are also angry about the government's failure to issue in a timely manner the necessary license to operate the 2.4 GHz frequency band, although a special regulation for the operation of this frequency band is in place.

The Directorate General of Post and Telecommunications plans to issue a temporary permit for the use of the 2.4 GHz frequency in response to protests by the ISPs.

A source said the ISPs met with officials of the Directorate General on Wednesday.