Internet providers vow to suspend services
Internet providers vow to suspend services
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia could be electronically isolated from the rest of the
world if most of the country's internet service providers (ISPs)
go ahead with a threatened three-day blackout from Wednesday to
protest government inaction in regulating the industry.
Heru Nugroho, chairman of the Association of Indonesian
Internet Service Providers (APJII) said on Tuesday that most of
the association's 60 members, excluding state-owned
telecommunication companies PT Telkom and PT Indosat, and PT M-
Web Indonesia, had agreed to the blackout plan.
The blackout would close the Indonesian Internet Exchange
(IIX) -- the local backbone for all ISPs in Indonesia.
Telecommunications expert Roy Suryo said the impact of
shutting down IIX -- along which 246 megabytes of information
travels per second -- would be severe as it could isolate
Indonesia from the rest of the world.
"The most severely hit sector will be local websites, portals,
and internet banking systems. It could not be accessed. But users
could still access websites located in other countries," Roy
said.
The blackout plan surfaced following frustration felt by
APJII's members over what they saw as the government's inability
to draw up strict regulations for the ISP industry.
Heru pointed out that the raid against VoIP (Voice Over the
Internet Protocol) and 2.4 GHz frequency band operators last week
by the police and city officials reflected the legal uncertainty
plaguing the industry.
The government has banned VOIP and 2.4 GHz frequency band
operators.
But Heru said that according to Ministerial Decree No. 21/2000
the operators were still allowed to run their businesses until
the end of May.
VoIP is a technology for transmitting ordinary telephone calls
over the Internet, allowing significant savings during long
distance calls. The 2.4 GHz frequency is a frequency used as an
effective and affordable data transmitter for wireless local area
network. ISPs use these two technologies to expand their
businesses.
APJII also lambasted the government for not quickly issuing
licenses for the use of the 2.4 GHz frequency. "This is creating
uncertainty to our business," Heru said.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Post and
Telecommunications at the Ministry of Communication declined to
make a comment over the blackout plan, with one official saying
that the office would discuss it Wednesday.