Internet in Indonesia

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The infamous tweet made by Indonesia’s previous minster of telecommunications Tifatul Sembiring questions the purpose of a faster internet. As a heavy internet user myself, coming across something like this humors me. However, I am saddened to see that there are still people not to mention our own minister, who are ignorant towards the advantages of a faster connection. The actual tweet was said in an inviting way than many suggest, making the criticism quite unfair. Also, twitter is meant to be a fun place to socialize. Be that as it may, the minister directly represents Indonesia and now that it’s on the Internet it will never be forgotten.

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Personally I use internet for research and games. While games might seem to be a lackluster reason for faster internet, e-sports is not to be underestimated. At one of the biggest Dota 2 events last summer a total prize of $18.000.000 was distributed to the winners. Making money from games is not a myth and some of my friends have already started. I’ve had difficulties competing with others due to FirstMedia internet troubles. At times the connection would freeze at a sudden due to a high ping spike. Normally things would go out smooth after but at crucial moments it can determine a win or a loss. In general not only is a fast connection needed but also reliability in clutch moments, such as the stock market where the price of shares are updated every millisecond.

This isn’t back in the day where information was spread through letters carried by birds or notes that were boarded on ships. Even twitter delivers glimpses of news before it’s broadcasted via tweets of many.  We become smarter and well informed people through the spread of information. Faster internet sparks growth and development thus competing with other nations as well as attracting foreign companies and organizations looking to invest in Indonesia. Indonesia having the 2nd slowest internet speed worldwide makes it a risky proposition to businesses that heavily rely on fast communications. Internet and fast communications in services allows for ease, efficiency and increases productivity. Japan, South Korea, USA, Germany and many more modern countries provide superb internet speeds at reasonable costs.

During his time as Minister Tifatul Sembiring has put a great emphasis on blocking pornographic sites through ‘Internet Positif’, but in the process many other sites with no affiliations to such were also blocked; reddit, imgur, vimeo, manga/comic sites. Censorship hurts users especially when it’s unnecessary.

“The Internet is a network of networks which like a road network or telephone network, increases in value to every user as it gets larger. Each new user is both a source and a destination for information, goods, services, etc. If the Internet becomes walled-off, however, then the marginal benefits of continued growth will be diminished for everyone. The open Internet is a shared interest and maintaining it is a shared responsibility.” -Rodney D. Ludema http://www.state.gov/e/oce/rls/2014/233848.htm

The number of Indonesian netizens is expected to surpass Japan’s in the following years due to the extreme population however the percentage of users only amounts to 28% of the society. Due to Indonesia’s geography being a scatter of islands connecting one another via durable deep sea cables proves to be an extensive endeavor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Indonesia

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/02/01/minister-questions-use-fast-internet.html