Fiber-optics could link Indonesia
By Leah McBride Mensching, Wednesday 31 October 2007 at 21:54 :: General :: #790 :: rss
Indonesia could see some 40,000 villages linked with fiber-optic networks, giving them telephone and Internet connections, should the nation's government open the project for approval in Surabaya, East Java on Nov. 30.
The project would link the entire archipelago with a fiber-optic network, which would be called the Palapa Ring Project, said Muhammad Nuh, Indonesia's information and communication minister.
Should the ambitious project be undertaken, the government would also set up wireless Internet infrastructure in each mayoralty and regency using free hotspots in main fields, Asia Media reported. Work on the project would also begin in the eastern part of the country, where telecommunications is the most deficient.
“The fiber-optic network will use cables set up both undersea and underground and will link all parts of the country,” Nuh said. “We're using fiber-optic because it will be too costly to use satellite and its services cannot match fiber-optic.”
The fiber-optic ring would connect Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Mluku and Papua with an estimated 35,280 kilometers of fiber-optic cable under the sea, and 21,807 kilometers underground, linking 33 provinces and 440 cities, according to Asia Media.
The Palapa Ring project first began in January 2005, during Indonesia's first Infrastructure Summit, which is part of the government's initiative to increase telecommunications penetration in the country, which is currently at 20 percent.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2008, with the ring network entering operation in 2011.
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