Internet providers have good business prospects
Internet providers have good business prospects
JAKARTA (JP): Business prospects for service and information- providers of the Internet superhighway are still good, but the network's rapid growth in Indonesia may slow down if the government decides it has a negative impact, an academician says.
Professor Dimyati Hartono of Diponegoro University's School of Law in Semarang, Central Java, said yesterday that there are presently less than 10 Internet service providers in the country.
"This, in addition to the fact that the government has decided to open up the information business, will allow more companies to enter the business," he said.
Dimyati said, however, that the government may restrict or even close the sector if it considers the number of providers is enough or if the network seems to have a negative effect on the country.
He made his remarks during a seminar on the prospects and future challenges of the information business in Indonesia, which was held yesterday to commemorate the Antara news agency's 58th anniversary.
Dimyati said that a company which intends to enter the Internet service business in Indonesia may presently face hurdles caused by poor infrastructure.
"But the aspect of infrastructure I am talking about is not the hardware and software facilities, but rather the licensing procedures," he said.
"What is needed is legal certainty from the government and consistency in applying the law," he added.
Companies intending to enter the information business, he said, must pay special attention to the requirements and expiry date of the permits awarded by the government because they are crucial to determining the company's investment and return on investment strategies.
Dimyati felt the government should concentrate less on creating regulations for the information sector and understand that openness, democratization and free access to global information is inevitable.
He pointed out that Internet users, for example, presently have access to U.S. President Bill Clinton, Congress members and other U.S. government institutions.
Singapore, he added, is also aware of the power of information and currently 30 percent of the country's population use the superhighway.
There are presently five Internet service providers in Indonesia, the newest one being PT Cyberindo Aditama (CBNnet), which was launched last month.
The other four are PT Indo Internet (Indonet), PT Aplikanusa Lintasartha (Idola), PT Rajasa Media (Radnet) and PT Sistelindo Mitralintas (Inet).
According to Onno W. Purbo from the Bandung Institute of Technology's Computer Network Research Group, there are presently about 10,639 Internet users in Indonesia.
Of this number, 29.5 percent are in universities, 5.8 percent in research institutions, one percent in non-governmental organizations, 20.9 percent in government institutions and 42.8 percent in industry and commercial centers.
Approximately 71.7 percent of the users are in Jakarta and 25.7 percent live in Bandung.
Onno said the Internet's global market already reaches 32 million users and is growing at a rate of 10 percent a month. (pwn)