VoIP used to improve telecommunication infrastructure

VoIP used to improve telecommunication infrastructure

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

Crowding into a large tent, some 100 residents of the remote
village of Tompo in South Sulawesi waited anxiously as
technicians from PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) put the
finishing touches on some electronic equipment.

Worried looks mixed with enthusiasm as the technicians fine-
tuned a telephone handset, a facsimile machine and a desktop
computer.

When Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie,
who was also in attendance, finally spoke into the handset a wave
of applaud arose.

From the other end of the handset in Jakarta -- as incoming
data streamed down from a distant antenna tower into a receiver
antenna next to the tent -- the voice of President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono was heard, greeting the villagers and congratulating
them on their new telephone link.

"Everybody in this country must benefit from development,
whether they live in the city or in rural areas," Susilo said in
a five-minute conversation with residents.

The phone link to Tompo village in Barru regency, about a two-
hour drive from South Sulawesi's capital Makassar, was
established on Sunday.

Last year, 288 similar links were set up by the Ministry of
Communication and Information, state-owned telecommunications
company PT Telkom and PSN in nine other remote villages in the
province, as part of the government's Information and
Telecommunications Technology (ICT) Universal Service Obligation
(USO) program.

The rural telephone links in the province are a first for PSN
as they run on Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology.
The PSN currently provides rural phone links using portable fixed
satellite links and over-radio broadcasting.

In his remarks, Aburizal said the ICT USO program was one of
the key elements of the government's focus on reviving the
agricultural sector and developing the economy in rural areas, in
addition to sustaining macroeconomic stability and reviving the
real sector through the empowerment of small and medium
enterprises (SMEs).

"Infrastructure in rural areas must be improved, including
telecommunications infrastructure," he said.

Villages in Barru regency were chosen for the ICT USO program
because they have the potential to develop an agricultural-based
economy, Barru Regent Mohammad Rum said.

Aburizal said he hoped Tompo village would maximize the use of
the newly established rural phone link to develop agricultural
and husbandry activities.

"Farmers, for example, do not have the pay the prices offered
by middlemen because they can check the market prices for their
products in Makassar and cities all over the country by phone,"
he said.

With an IP-based link, the villagers also have access to the
Internet. Aburizal said they could set up a website containing
information on their village and agricultural products.

"The young people should also use the Internet to communicate
with the outside world and broaden their knowledge."

The director general of post and telecommunications, Djamhari
Sirait, said the ICT USO program was essential to developing the
economy in rural areas, and the country as a whole.

"Indonesia's economy will surely benefit, as studies have show
a 1 percent increase in the (telecommunications) penetration rate
will result in up to a 3 percent rise in the country's economic
growth," he said, adding that the equipment required for a rural
phone link was Rp 13 million (US$1,358).

Djamhari said the government would expand the ICT USO program
to cover 43,000 villages in the country that do not have
telephone links. The government expanded rural phone links to
2,075 villages last year and 3,010 villages in 2003.

According to data from the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU) and other related institutions, the telephone
penetration rate in Indonesia stands at 8 percent on average for
both fixed lines and cellular phones. The computer penetration
rate is about 4 percent.

"I hope within the next five years, at least half of those
43,000 villages will receive similar phone links through the ICT
USO program," Aburizal said.

Djamhari hopes for support for the ICT USO program from
telecommunications firms in the country.

"As of now, the USO program has been funded mainly through the
state budget," he said. "In the future, the government hopes that
all telecommunications companies will pitch in and contribute at
least 0.07 percent of their yearly revenue for the program."

Aburizal said the government could consider revoking
companies' business licenses if they were reluctant to contribute
to the USO program.

"Telecommunications companies must participate in creating a
cross-subsidy in the country's telecommunications industry.

"They should not only think about getting revenue from
developed areas, but also about developing the telecommunications
infrastructure in rural areas," he said.