Document(s) 8 of 21

INTRODUCTION

Indonesia is one of the largest countries in Asia, spread across three time zones, with a population estimated to be 221 million in 2005.² Stricken with political and economic instability, frequent natural disasters and ethnic conflict, Indonesia has faced a series of domestic crises. In addition to these difficulties, the Government of Indonesia has not played a positive role in the development of the country's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in the form of effective regulation and policy making. Instead, several poor regulatory decisions³ based on short-term goals have had a negative impact on telecom and Internet infrastructure and service development. The limited growth and development seen in the recent past can be largely attributed to the untiring efforts of Indonesian civil society.

The many definitions of civil society share a common feature; it is the arena in which people come together to pursue common interests because they care enough about something to take collective action (Purcell et al., 2006). This includes representatives from professional and grassroots levels, community media activists and media interest groups, volunteers, youth activists, philanthropic institutions, as well as human rights advocates, to name but a few. Due to their strength in numbers and reach, civil society organizations play an important role in educating the public, building capacity (through knowledge transfer and training), promoting public-interest objectives, and influencing government decisions. With the emergence of the Internet and other ICTs as global information tools, civil society has gained significant weight in political and economic arenas (Zinnbauer, 2001); similarly, it has an important influence on the development and diffusion of these ICTs. This chapter describes the role that civil society has played in promoting Internet use in Indonesia against a backdrop of meager state-support for the development of the ICT sector.

INTERNET USE IN INDONESIA

Internet development in Indonesia, as in many countries, was initiated by the academic and research community in the early 1990s. Access, at that time, was limited to a small circle of scholars and 'techies' based at universities connected to UniNet, the first Indonesian inter-university network.⁴ The Internet became accessible to the general public only after the launch of Indonesia's first commercial Internet service provider (ISP), IndoNet, in 1995 (Table 4.1), and the subsequent spread of public Internet access points, commonly known in Indonesia as warnet.⁵

Table 4.1
Indonesian ICT Sector (1990–2005)

Although growth in Internet use was slow during the first five years, the number of users increased rapidly from 2000 to 2005, as seen in Chapter 6. Nevertheless, Internet penetration is still lowest in Indonesia when compared to peers,¹¹ and as indicated by the six-dimension Internet rating model developed by the Mosaic Group,¹² there is room for improvement—Indonesia has an overall rating of 15.5 out of a total of 24. This can be attributed to the lack of adequate infrastructure as a result of restrictive government policy and ineffective regulation by Directorate General of Post and Telecommunication (DG Postel) and Badan Regulasi Telekomunikasi Indonesia (BRTI). Fixed infrastructure, on which Internet services depend, is dominated by the state owned incumbent, PT Telkom, who along with PT Indosat, another state owned operator, control international gateways. Because of the dominance and political influence of these two operators, regulators have been unable to implement effective reforms; the monopoly situation has resulted in excessive prices (Schwab, Porter and Sachs, 2002), under-developed networks and a lack of access to telecoms. Chapter 6 provides more details on the policy and regulatory framework.

Chapter 6 argues that, owing to Indonesia's skewed geo-demographic structure and license conditions which only permit network operators to build infrastructure, ICT development has been concentrated in the metropolis (in urban centers like Jakarta, Bandung, Bali, and Surabaya) while rural areas lack access to even the most basic telecom infrastructure.¹³ Telephone and computer penetration have gradually increased over the years, but these figures are still very low in comparison with the Philippines and Thailand. The existing ICT infrastructure is said to serve only 1 to 5 percent of Indonesia's population (Purbo, 2003). Although the government had plans to connect all the major islands and cities by satellite, submarine, and terrestrial cable (NUSANTARA 21), they were shelved due to the absence of investment capital.

Since most Indonesians have no access to fixed telephones, computers or the Internet, and because they cannot afford to own these facilities or pay to use these services (even when access is available),¹⁴ the warnet model of Internet access has been successful. Warnets provide relatively affordable access ranging from as low as US dollars (USD) 0.05 to USD 0.09 per hour any time of the day, and it is not surprising that 1.56 percent (approximately 3 million) of Indonesian households use these access points (BPS, 2006).

Another factor contributing to the low use of ICTs is the limited knowledge and use of English in Indonesia. The national language of Indonesia, a dialect of Malay called Bahasa Indonesia, is used in education, government, and business, while other local dialects are still very important in certain areas. As such the ability to use the Internet is limited.

The ICT civil society has played a pivotal role in educating thousands of Indonesians in ICTs, with assistance from the private sector. The community has promoted the use of the Internet and relevant ICTs to people across Indonesia from the early 1990s. Initially constituting academics alone, the community now encompasses a wide group of individuals, from ICT experts to a range of users/practitioners—techies, hackers, programmers and general users, and activists; these groups try to promote the use of the Internet and ICTs at all levels of the society and in all aspects of life. In addition to this core group, many Indonesian businesses (ISPs, warnets, etc.), students, teachers, and the general public have taken to extending ICTs affordably and effectively to the last mile, as Chapter 6 will show. As their reach and influence has broadened over the years, the group has striven for a reasonable mix of supply- and demand-side measures to enable diffusion of the Internet throughout Indonesia. Actions aimed at educating the people, especially the youth, and promoting alternatives to gain better access to ICTs, have resulted in a significant increase in Internet use (Figure 4.1).

Figure 4.1
The Development of the Internet in Indonesia

Source: Authors.

When the Internet was opened to the public in the mid-1990s, very few people knew enough about the technology to make use of it; there was a definite lack of IT expertise. Realizing early on that the effective use of technology required appropriate skills and know-how in addition to access itself (Lim, 2002), the ICT community focused their efforts on spreading knowledge of the Internet to as many people as possible, in order to generate an interest in ICTs. This was executed by conducting many training sessions and distributing information resources across the nation. The growing numbers of experts and users—the products of the original information distribution cycle—have gone on to promote ICTs in their own communities by authoring various books and conducting tutorials in local dialects. This education process can, therefore, be seen as a recurrent cycle of teaching and learning, leading to an ICT-literate Indonesian society.

This ongoing process has resulted in the added benefit of creating a pool of well trained ICT intellectuals and experts who have gone on to create relevant software and hardware tools for the Indonesian ICT user. Consequently, there has been a continuous improvement in local software applications and web content, and even the development of innovative networking solutions (neighborhood and school networks) with assistance from the private sector. These actions have improved Indonesia's Internet presence and encouraged increasing numbers of Indonesians to get online.

Products of Community Action

Growing community action in Indonesia has resulted in bringing about an ICT literate society, improved online content, a large number of local software applications and innovative workaround network solutions. This sub-section discusses these results in more detail.

ICT-literate Society

In order to enable knowledgesharing among the public, the community conducts regular training courses (seminars, demonstrations, and road shows) across the country. Recognizing that lowcost knowledge distribution is important for the adoption of ICTs, these courses are usually taught for free (or, for about USD 3 to 5 per head, at most) and feature ICT experts, practitioners and activists, including participants from the private sector. Even hackers, well known among Indonesians, such as Jim Geovedi and Irvan, make presentations at these events. Depending on the resources available, the courses range from hands-on practical sessions to simple face-to-face discussions with the students, mostly youth. Programs are conducted on various topics, from regulatory issues (public access and Wi-Fi, and VoIP) to technical issues like Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), software and website development, programming, etc., while the most common sessions are the general ICT awareness programs. The former courses are focused more on schools and colleges, while the latter are taught to the general public. Taking into account the demand for these training sessions, it is normal to have over 300 people attending each seminar, and about two to three seminars in two to three different cities every week. As more Indonesians become interested in ICTs, the frequency of training courses has multiplied. Private sector assistance comes in the form of funding to conduct these tutorials and road shows; some companies donate equipment to budding ICT researchers, authors, and users. Even the Indonesian Ministry of Education assists in organizing, coordinating, and implementing this kind of community action. The Ministry has played a major role in the growth of the ICT sector—it has been a strong proponent of ICT education and has even made plans to introduce the subject in school and university curricula. ICT organizations were to collaborate with educational institutions and ICTs were meant to be used as learning tools, but these plans could not be implemented due to various impediments (Belawati, 2003). Despite these setbacks, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with other (government) entities, supports ongoing civil society activities that bring about greater ICT education and awareness in Indonesia.

Media such as radio, television, and newspapers are also used to promote the use of computers and the Internet. ICT-related education programs are frequently telecast on TV; radio talk shows host ICT activists and experts, and newspapers carry articles written by them. The dissemination of information through the use of print (pamphlets, fliers, magazines, and books) and online publications (newsletters, e-zines, and e-books) is also undertaken. Publications in local languages are useful sources of information to those interested in learning about ICTs.

Unlike in other countries, Indonesia's hackers have a positive impact on local web content and software development, as they publish their experiences in magazines, books and online media. Authors can get up to USD 700 to USD 900 per book in royalties; each book is sold at concessional rates of about USD 2 to 3 on an average, or is distributed free-of-charge at training courses. Indonesian technology magazines are also widely available and cost USD 1 to 2. Many of these magazines accept contributions from local authors and pay about USD 15 to 25 per article.

Although a number of programs are operated by the government, the key drivers of Internet development in Indonesia are civil society groups. Umbrella organizations like Masyarakat Telematika Indonesia (MASTEL) and the Indonesian Infocom Society, which bridge the government, private sector and other interested parties, play a significant role by 'conducting various activities to promote and develop Indonesian telecommunication expertly and evenly'. They focus on industrial development through better access and content and domestic applications (FOSS, e-commerce, etc.) and hardware development. Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia (APJII), Indonesia's ISP Association, carries out a number of educational programs, in association with the private and public sectors, hoping for the growth of the service industry and increasing Internet users to 20 percent of the population by 2007. There is also a large FOSS sub-community within the ICT community.

Due to these efforts, many Indonesians are getting online and making better use of ICTs. Many of these individuals have careers in IT, some as academics and others as techies. Many students who are trained at these seminars and tutorials develop software applications appropriate for use in Indonesia (the programs are operable in Bahasa Indonesia and are freely downloadable). Others develop web content for Indonesian Internet users, increasing appropriate local content. Additionally, the development of workaround networking solutions by these individuals has enabled cheap Internet access to previously unconnected areas in Indonesia and is their most important contribution so far.

Better Online Content

The Internet is a global communication medium, facilitating information retrieval, publication, dialogue, and coordination amongst groups and individuals across the world. From websites and data repositories, to mailing lists/fora, user groups, online communities, chat rooms and blogs, the Internet provides the domain, reach and freedom for an author to develop his/her writing skills and make his/her voice heard across an audience that is both local and global. While some of these discussions are confined to closed groups, others are open to the public.

Other popular online media used for social purposes, knowledge sharing, business activities and general information exchange, are mailing lists and user groups. Tech user groups can be loosely categorized into ICT policy enthusiasts, hackers, techies, programmers and network administrator communities. Almost all these groups operate in Bahasa Indonesia and are hosted at Yahoo! Groups (over 45,000 in total, however, only a few are active and effective). Hacker group Jasakom-Perjuangan is currently the largest in Indonesia with over 12,000 members, while the Network Administrator community, represented by Indowli and Asosiasi–Warnet, has over 10,000 members. These groups facilitate the discussion of current IT affairs, tech problems, and business ideas, among other ICT topics.

Local Software Applications

The Linux community, Sony AK Knowledge Centre and Open Source-Indonesia groups are playing important roles in determining the course of FOSS development in Indonesia, while the Indonesia Goes Open Source (IGOS) initiative by the government and other private sector institutions provide ancillary support. The government established copyright laws in 2003 and issued a decree requesting the development of software in Indonesian languages using Open Source platforms. Without encouragement by the ICT communities to develop and use FOSS in Indonesia, the decree would have been of no effect. In addition to the increased use of Linux and other open-source software, many local software applications have been developed by amateur and professional programmers who are members of these communities.

The most impressive software developed so far, the Indonesian Digital Library Network (DLN), improves the quality of graduates coming out of the university system, through easy access to information that they could not have accessed otherwise. For instance, a student on the island of Kalimantan can gain easy access to the Institute of Technology, Bandung (ITB) library located in Bandung, on the island of Java, as easily as he can gain access to a digital library in New Zealand. Unsurprisingly, the DLN won an award from the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) in 2001 and the prestigious Indonesia Infocom Business Community (i2bc) e-Award in 2002 which honors organizations that make a positive impact on ICT development in Indonesia.

Many individuals who develop Indonesian FOSS applications have had no formal ICT training, apart from the courses conducted by the ICT community. The rest of their knowledge has been obtained through their own initiative and through the use of freely available online and offline resources.

Workaround Network Solutions

The most impressive outcome of civil society and private sector action is undoubtedly the development of 'workaround' networking solutions; these have enabled cheaper access to the Internet in the previously underserved areas of Indonesia. This innovation came about as a result of persistent attempts to bypass Telkom's last mile infrastructure (and, therefore, avoid paying excessive charges), made by ISPs and other small and medium ICT entities.

As explained in Chapter 6, ISPs have been forced to pay PT Telkom's exorbitant charges, making Internet subscriptions too costly for average Indonesians. In order to circumvent this, ICT experts and academics developed 'neighborhood networks' and 'school networks' which provide lowcost, shared Internet access around neighborhoods and schools, respectively, using wireless networks (Wi-Fi). These access points follow the warnet model of operation and make use of wireless networks that rely on radio waves, running on 2.4 GHz or 5.8 GHz bands up to 5–8 km and, most importantly, bypass Telkom's last mile infrastructure. By running either a Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cable around the neighborhood or by using a Wi-Fi access card and using bandwidth from nearby Internet cafés (or schools), Internet connectivity can be distributed throughout the area for as low as USD 15 to 30 per house per month. As more households and computer units join the network, and as technology develops, the cost further declines (unfortunately, along with quality). While most school networks provide the same services as Internet cafés for a cost of about USD 0.5 per student per month, others resell bandwidth to distribute connectivity around their neighborhoods. School networks allow many more people to access the Internet than just those who can afford personal computers (PCs) in their homes.

Setting up and maintaining a wireless connection for a Neighborhood or School Network is a low-cost activity.¹⁵ An advanced ICT-literate individual can build a Wi-Fi network without much difficulty. These alternative network solutions are discussed in detail in Chapter 6.

Emerging VoIP (Internet telephony) is another feature that has become available to Indonesians through Neighborhood or School Networks, which allows cheap communication, both locally and globally. By utilizing VoIP to make phone calls, Indonesians avoid the excessive call charges of PT Telkom and PT Indosat. Currently 15 Indonesian VoIP providers are in operation and the cost of carrying data in and out of the country is declining. Equipment for Internet telephony is now available off-the-shelf and is fairly easy to use; the one-time cost for a VoIP handset is around USD 20 to 70 (a Telkom circuit-switched handset costs around USD 25 to 35, and a fixed wireless handset costs between USD 35 to 50) and the monthly operating costs are about USD 25. This technology can be used to build a community telephone network sidestepping PT Telkom's telephone infrastructure, which again further reduces costs per call.

Civil society actions have had major impacts on Indonesian Internet development and use; within a short period of 10 years it is estimated that over 10 million Indonesians, more than 4,000 schools, and over 4,000 Internet cafés (including the warnet) have gone online. Significant progress has been made in the creation of an ICT-literate society, improved online presence and better local applications. What is most significant is that all of this has been achieved without much government and donor support.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Despite a lack of regulatory support from the Indonesian government as well a variety of geographical, political, and economic obstacles, progress has been made in the deployment and use of the Internet in Indonesia with the support of local communities. Much progress has been made in the diffusion of ICT education in the country.

With the exception of the Ministry of Education, the Government of Indonesia has not provided much support for the development or adoption of ICTs; in fact, its telecom policies have constituted a major barrier. While the private sector enjoys the benefits of competition in the IT market, the fixed telecom sector is essentially monopolistic, although the regulatory framework states otherwise. It is imperative that more enlightened policies and regulations are implemented for the benefit of all Indonesian citizens; the recent reforms proposed by the government show promise. Such policies would include those that not only permit, but also encourage private participation in infrastructure development, and help to reduce prices through competition. Effective regulation is also required in the sector. Since the unlicensing of the 2.4 GHz band for Wi-Fi in January 2005, the government has been making better decisions in consultation with the ICT community. It has forced telecom operators to cut leased line prices by 50 percent¹⁶ and now has plans to introduce a least-cost subsidy auctions to roll-out backbone networks. To ensure competitiveness in the telecom sectors, the authorities have plans to introduce another international gateway provider and have already allowed the entry of new players in the fixed wireless and mobile sectors (Goswami, 2006).

The ICT community aggressively promoted the use of the Internet throughout Indonesia, and their actions have resulted in the creation of an ICT-literate society, an improvement in Indonesia's online presence and better local applications. These outcomes and the development of alternative network solutions that enable affordable access to the Internet have had positive impacts on the sector.

NOTES

¹ Divakar Goswami assisted in the preparation of this chapter, with the verification of certain facts.

² World Bank: http://devdata.worldbank.org/data-query

³ For example, granting exclusivities to incumbents for the fixed-line sector and international gateway; licensing framework that prevents ISPs from building infrastructure; no tariff regulation of leased line and international bandwidth which are crucial inputs for provision of Internet service, etc. See Chapter 6 and Goswami and Purbo (2006) for more information.

⁴ This network is now the base of the non-commercial research and academic information network known as IPTEKnet.

⁵ Abbreviation of warung Internet, loosely translated as cybercafé or Internet café.

⁶ ITU World Telecommunication Indicators 2004 database and APJII estimates (http://www.apjii.or.id/dokumentasi/statistik.php?lang=eng)

⁷ APJII (http://www.apjii.or.id/dokumentasi/statistik.php?lang=eng)

⁸ ITU World Telecommunication Indicators 2004 database.

⁹ There are many estimates of the number of Internet users in Indonesia based on varying and arbitrary definitions. For instance, the APJII estimate for Internet users is derived by multiplying the number of subscribers by some factor close to 10. The most reliable figure of 10,000,000 Internet users in Indonesia is the result of a national survey carried out by BPS in 2005. http://www.apjii.or.id/dokumentasi/statistik.php?lang=eng

¹⁰ ITU World Telecommunication Indicators 2004 database.

¹¹ See Figure 6.1.

¹² The model takes into consideration (a) Pervasiveness, (b) Geographic dispersion, (c) Sector absorption, (d) Connectivity infrastructure, (e) Organizational infrastructure, and (f) Sophistication of use, http://mosaic.unomaha.edu/gdi.html

¹³ Of the 66,778 villages across Indonesia, almost 65 percent remain unwired.

¹⁴ The cost of owning a telephone includes an initial connection charge of USD 31 and monthly subscription charges of USD 3.4 in addition to per minute call charges (ITU, 2006), the total of which is unaffordable to most Indonesians. Besides owning telephones, few Indonesians own PCs. A basic, no-frills personal computer can cost between USD 200 and 250 and this is far too costly for an Indonesian earning an average of USD 80 per month. Additionally, Internet access charges (that is, the subscription to an ISP) vary between USD 5 and 60 per month, depending on the type of connection (telephone, cable, or fiber optic). Based on ITU (2003) figures, the average Indonesian spends up to 28 percent of his income per month for Internet access.

¹⁵ It costs approximately USD 2,000 to set up a neighborhood network, which, if divided among the neighborhood, will reduce individual charges further.

¹⁶ 'Leased Line Tariffs to be Regulated', Bisnis Indonesia, September 27, 2006.

REFERENCES

Badan Pusat Statistik (August 2006). Profile of Information technology usage by public, National Social Economy Survey Results (Susenas) 2005. Statistic State News No. 42/IX/14.

Belawati, T. (2003). Philippines: ICT Use in Education. In G. Farrell and C. Wachholz (Eds.), Meta-survey on the Use of Technologies in Education in Asia and the Pacific 2003–2004 (pp. 121–127). Bangkok: UNESCO.

Goswami, D. (November 9, 2006). Indonesian Country Study Colloquium presentation. Colombo, Sri Lanka: LIRNEasia. Retrieved May 20, 2006, from http://www.lirneasia.net/2006/11/colloquium-indonesia-sector-performanceindicators-study/

Goswami, D. and Purbo, O. (2006). Wi-Fi "Innovation" in Indonesia: Working around Hostile Market and Regulatory Conditions. WDR 3rd cycle, Discussion Paper WDR0611. Retrieved from http://www.lirneasia.net/2006/05/wi-fi-%e2%80% 9cinnovation%e2%80%9d-in-indonesia-working-around-hostile-market-and-regulatory-conditions/

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Purcell, F., Vernous, G., Wakunuma, K., Akbar, S. and Finquelievich, S. (2006). Role of Civil Society: Internet Governance and Developing Countries. Internet Governance Research Project, Diplo Foundation. Retrieved March 25, 2006, from www.diplomacy.edu/Conferences/IG/presentations/VeronicaCretu.pdf

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