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.