Komdigi Reveals Challenges in Launching 6G Internet in Indonesia

To enter the 6G era, Indonesia still faces one major challenge, namely a lack of network spectrum. Director of Radio Frequency Spectrum, Satellite Orbit, and Digital Infrastructure Standardisation at the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), Adis Alifiawan, explained that 6G networks require a spectrum capacity of 200 MHz. Meanwhile, no single frequency band can currently meet this requirement. The government recently auctioned the 700 MHz band (with a capacity of 70 MHz) and the 2.6 GHz band (with a capacity of 190 MHz). “The largest is the one we auctioned recently at 2.6 GHz, 190 MHz. It doesn’t reach 200 MHz. So for 6G, it’s not enough for one operator,” he said during a Mastel seminar in Jakarta on Thursday (9/7/2026). He stated that 6G networks need more space, and therefore the capacity must follow suit. “If you compare 6G to 2G, 2G is like a motorbike, 3G is like a bajaj, then 4G is like an LCGC, 5G is like an SUV, and for 6G we need a hammer. So if you want a big car, the garage must be big,” he explained. “If we want to accommodate 6G traffic, we must have the spectrum as its garage, which also needs to be large,” he added. For this reason, new frequencies need to be released. He said the most ideal launch would be for the mid-band. According to him, it is impossible to release low-band frequencies because the bandwidth is small and the range is short. Meanwhile, mid-band networks for 6G have several impacts. One of them is the development of AI. “If we want AI usage to continue developing, we need 6G,” he said. “Moreover, even without new use cases like AI, existing use cases alone, with the growth of other use cases and the growing demand from other use cases, will create a need for mobile connectivity. For the public, at some point they will experience a bottleneck and need additional capacity,” Adis explained.