Not BTS, BAKTI to Focus on Existing Sites in Remote Indonesia During 2026

The Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) of the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) will focus solely on operating existing sites. Meanwhile, there are no plans to build new BTS towers in the near future.

“For 2026, BAKTI’s current position remains focused on carrying out opex at existing locations; there are no plans for new construction, only for relocation,” said Fadhilah Mathar, President Director of BAKTI at the Ministry of Komdigi, during the Bakti Media Connect 2026 event in Jakarta on Wednesday (12/8/2026).

He added that BTS construction was completed in 2025. Since 2026 will also soon come to an end, new construction would not be achievable in time.

“If we force it now, with it already being August or October, the timeline would not be met, especially given the on-off situation in Papua,” he said.

According to him, building BTS towers is not particularly easy. Moreover, construction requires resources from many sides, including state finances and time.

Fadhilah also referred back to resources when asked whether construction would begin in 2027.

“We will look at the resources first,” he said.

So far, 83,000 villages have been covered by 4G networks. Around 2,000 villages or residential areas remain without network coverage.

According to him, villages that remain blank spots are spread across various Indonesian provinces. However, the majority are located in Papua.

Previously, BAKTI had nearly built around 100 sites. However, security constraints made the construction process difficult to carry out even though all the equipment and towers were already on location.

“But because the process was very difficult and there were security issues, there ended up being several dozen sites that we ultimately could not continue,” said Fadhilah.