Internet users still find service glitches

JAKARTA (JP): The popularity of the Internet in Indonesia has stamped it as a new urban phenomenon in the country's major cities.

Some subscribe to support their work or education, and others use it just for fun. But as information on the net is uncensored, there is also concern about misuse of this technology, as people may put indecent or offensive materials on the system.

The Jakarta Post talked to several Internet subscribers about why they use the service.

Emmy Hafild, chairwoman of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi): I subscribe to the Internet at home and in my office. I've used the service since I was a student in America many years ago.

The Internet is very useful but we have to be selective. Otherwise, we could end up wasting time looking at junk mail.

Things that I'm looking for on the Internet deal with the environment, such as the results of research, environmental analyzes, regulations and articles.

When my father-in-law got cancer, we sought information on the Internet on food for those suffering from cancer.

I allow my children to access the service, but only if I accompany them. Here we don't yet have the program to block certain sites, for example Playboy, like they have in the United States. So we sit together to access the data. I won't let them handle the keyboard to access by themselves. That's too dangerous.

Azrul Azwar, chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI): We have installed the Internet since last year. We even opened a homepage (www.idola.net/id), which is open to the public in a question and answer format.

Many people ask questions through the IDI homepage. Every day we get about 10 questions concerning diseases and health problems. We have people in the office to copy the questions and distribute them to doctors concerned. It's not an easy job, but it shows that the public is very interested.

Most of the questions come from big cities, like Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung. Maybe this is because there is no Internet service in other cities.

We also put items from the Internet in our monthly magazine. But we only select a number of important articles.

Mas Achmad Santosa, the executive director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL): We have used the Internet since ICEL's establishment three years ago.

Most of data we look for is about the environmental law. We have limited time so we only look for data we need to support our job.

For example, we're asked to give input to the government about biosafety, which is really new. We therefore need to view data in foreign countries through the Internet.

ICEL very often gets e-mail from foreign students asking for data on Indonesia's environmental law. They ask us because we do a lot of research in cooperation with foreign experts.

I plan to get the Internet service for my children at home. But I have to accompany them every time they want to access data from the Internet.

Samsuridjal Djauzi, medical advisor at the Pelita Ilmu, an AIDS foundation: The Internet is very useful. It contains a lot of data. It's a pity if it cannot be utilized well.

I've been using the Internet for one year at my house and my office because I am a member of the AIDS discussion group. The group consists of 15 people, including those from the United States and other foreign countries.

We usually discuss new issues concerning AIDS.

Once I had a patient suffering with HIV who was suffering from a serious disease. I asked questions (on treatment) through the Internet at night. And in the morning I found there were already 18 answers on how to treat the patient.

Through the Internet we can easily communicate with other more experienced people. They might not answer our questions if we asked them through conventional letters.

Debby Manthey, marketing manager of an Internet Service Provider: I find the Internet business developing well here. Now we have 30 companies providing services.

But the market hasn't fully absorbed the supply. As you know not many people have computers in their houses. For most of the people here, using the Internet is still part of a lifestyle rather than satisfying their need for information.

The hit rate in Indonesia's internet services has not yet reached a level where companies will be encouraged to place their advertisements. There are some advertisements but not many.

I think we still need to educate the internet market here. But anyway, I'm not being pessimistic. By the time globalization process gets accelerating, the internet service will be booming.

Once the internet business is booming, the government, I think, will not need to refute (critical) internet data directly. What the government should do is to develop its own public relations in order to promote all its policies.

Alexander Irwan, manager of the Internet service division in the Bisnis Indonesia daily.

The supply of the Internet exceeds the demand. The infrastructure here is also not good. We see many service providers but not many content providers.

But I am optimistic that we'll see the internet business booming here. It is increasingly needed by professionals.

I expect that the internet service providers and content providers will get a lot of advertisements.

I think the products of the content providers need to be developed. They should diversify their products and dovetail them with the needs of many people.

Bambang Christianto, a communication observer of Indo Pacific Public Relations: I find the Internet very useful. I can access all kinds of data from Indonesia and foreign countries. It can help me to improve my profession. But what bothers me is that it often takes a long time to download a file. I have to wait up to 10 minutes before I get the file. It should be less than five minutes.

Ari, a journalist: I just bought a new computer and it comes with an Internet program and a 100-hour, or one-month free, trial. The trial period will soon end but I still can't find those exciting things all my friends talk about on the net. I don't have much time to surf the net, and when I do, it is really difficult to get connected to the Internet. The line is always busy.

I was told the provider had a high access speed, that it had more than 100 phone lines, and the number of the subscribers is still low. I don't know what's wrong. (bnt/ste)