The Development of the Internet in Indonesia: Challenges and Prospects to Go Online

Introduction

The G8 Okinawa Summit Meeting 2000 concluded that “IT empowers, benefits and links people the world over, allows global citizens to express themselves and know and respect one another”. Most of analysis the Internet tends to view this new medium from a global perspective, recognizing its nature as a global communication medium. However, this essay examines the Internet in Indonesia, particularly related to its development. There are two areas to be examined regarding the development of this new medium in Indonesia. The first concerns the obstacles faced by the Indonesian public to adopt the Internet viewed from economic and cultural perspectives. Secondly, the essay scrutinizes the future prospects for this technology in Indonesia.
The nature of the Internet is different from other media such as free to air broadcastings and print media, which are attached to certain geographical borders. Not so with the Internet, as cyberspace is borderless. Therefore, the term Internet in Indonesia context needs to be defined to prevent ambiguity. For such purpose this essay refers to Hill and Sen’s work defining the Internet in Indonesia as “…(i) those sites and lists that use substantial amounts of Bahasa Indonesia and deal mainly with Indonesia-related matters …(ii) those aspects of Internet usage that are observable either within the physical borders of Indonesia or in the sites and lists noted in (i).”
The development of the Internet in Asian countries, including Indonesia, is mainly influenced by economic, technological, cultural, and political factors. However, this essay will focus on the economic and cultural factors as both are believed to contribute significantly to the Internet’s development in Indonesia. It is argued that the high costs of computers and Internet connection fees for the average Indonesian working class and cyber pornography issues impede the development of the Internet in this country. However, proliferation of the ‘affordable’ Warnet and the current positive growth of the Indonesian economy endorse positive developments of the new medium in the future.

The Early Days of the Internet

The Internet was introduced to Indonesia in the mid 1980s by Badan Penelitian dan Penerapan Teknologi (the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology) by establishing the first information network called IPTEKnet. Then it was followed by the establishment of an inter-university network called UniNet which linked several prestigious campuses in the country such as Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS), the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM), and the University of Indonesia (UI). Both networks were funded by the Government. By the mid 1990s the first commercial Internet company, RADNET, emerged and immediately followed by several others.
With the emergence of commercial Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in 1995, the Internet began to be accessible to the public. Prior to 1995 it was restricted to a few science students in the prestigious universities. By the end of 1995, there were five commercial ISPs and one university-based network, IPTEKnet, and there were approximately 15,000 Internet users across Indonesia. This number continued to grow in the following year reaching 40,000 subscribers. Along with the user growth, there was also very significant growth of ISPs from 15 ISPs in 1995 to 32 ISPs in 1997. By 1999, the Indonesian Association of Internet Service Providers (APJII) stated that there were 250,000 Internet subscribers, which was about 0.25% of the population. This figure grew rapidly reaching 1.5 million in 2005.
The figures suggest that the growth of Internet, both users and ISPs, has been very high, about 6 fold within six years. Yet it also suggests that only a very small number of the Indonesian population have access to the new medium of information. What are the factors related to the difficulties coped by Indonesian to adopt the Internet and how is the prospect of growth of the medium in the future? The following sections will discuss such questions.

Challenges to Adopt the Internet: Economic Factors

From the economic viewpoint, there are two factors preventing the public from having access to the Internet, namely the high cost of computer units and Internet subscription fees. In a developing country such as Indonesia, a personal computer is still not affordable by the average person. Data from the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) indicates that in 1999 the price of the cheapest personal computer was more than half a month’s salary for the majority of the Indonesian working class. With the unaffordable price of personal computers to the majority of the population, it is very hard to expect a significant increase in Internet adoption, as a computer is a prerequisite to access this new medium of information.
Moreover, even if one had a computer then Internet subscription fees would be a problem because for the majority it is still expensive. Telkomnet Instant, an Internet Service Provider owned by Indonesian telecommunication company, Telkom, charges 165 rupiahs (2.5 cents Australian dollar) per minute or (A$ 1.5) per hour Internet connection. It is a dial Internet connection service and available all across Indonesia within Telkom’s telephone networks. One need not to subscribe to this service as the ISP is a part of the telephone company. The fee includes a local telephone connection to Telkom’s server. Other ISPs such as Centrin, and CBN, also provide dial up connection services. A subscriber has to pay subscription and usage fees to the ISPs plus telephone connection fee to the telephone company he or she uses to access the ISP’s server. Overall this dial up Internet service connection fee is about the same amount as Telkomnet Instant. This subscription fee is still unaffordable for the majority of Indonesians. Even for the average working class in Jakarta, whose regional minimum wage is 819,100 rupiahs ($A 126) per month, computer cost and Internet connection fees are still beyond affordability of most people, let alone in other regions.
Broadband Internet is another alternative of accessing Internet but it is much more expensive. With a minimum subscription fee of 300,000 rupiahs (A$46.15) per month, this service is and even further beyond the reach of most people. In addition, this service is only available in big cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, and Medan. There are two major players in this market namely Speedy and IndosatM2 . In short, considering that the price of computers and Internet connection fees are still beyond the reach of most of the population, it is difficult to expect a rapid adoption of this new medium in Indonesia at present or in the near future.

Challenges to Adopt the Internet: Cyber Pornography

The emergence of Internet promises several advantages as asserted by the G8 Okinawa Summit Meeting 2000 yet there are also claims about negative impacts of this new medium. In particular, pornography is seen as a serious problem in many countries including western country such as the United States of America, which is considered more ‘liberal’ on that issue. It is reported that ‘[i]n the US, discussions about cyber sex have developed into outright moral panic and currently, several legal restrictions are being imposed.’ Such fears also grow among Indonesian public claiming that Internet is to be used to access pornographic sites. Consequently, it will cause moral decadence among the youth. Moreover, the emergence of sex industry online has been amplifying such concerns.
Although there have been significant changes and increasing freedom for the media in Indonesia since the second half of 1998, issues of pornography do not disappear from public discourse. Moreover, the issues have been increasingly becoming more intense and reaching political domain with the passing of RUU Pornografi (the Draft of Laws on Pornography) in 2006. The Draft of Laws on Pornography itself does not target online pornography as it is driven more by the proliferation of ‘pornographic scenes’ in print media and television. The publication of the Indonesian version of Playboy magazine and the controversial appearances of the erotic Goyang Inul (Inul’s dance) on television are probably the triggering factors of the draft.
It does not really matter what triggers the proposal of the draft to the House of Representatives (DPR) and whether it will turn into the Laws on Pornography or not as it will not affect the Internet. As the nature of the Internet, which is global, such laws on pornography are difficult to apply to cyber pornography. What matter is that the proposal of such law signifies that issues on pornography become major concerns among the Indonesian majority. In turn, this ‘fear of pornography’ could diminish the prospects of the Internet in the future, because of its possibility to spread pornography.
There is no research about the contribution fears of cyber pornography make toward the growth of Internet in Indonesia; yet, it is believed that these fears contribute to a certain extent. The existence of such an ‘Internet threat’ likely will prevent individuals, particularly parents, even if they are economically viable from adopting the technology as they want to protect their children from online pornography. In addition, such fears are also believed to produce adverse impacts on the development of Warnet (Internet Café), which contributes significantly to introduce the Internet to the public, as parents often discourage youths to visit these public access points for similar reasons. This situation will keep the number of Warnet’s visitors stagnant or decreased. When demand is low it is very unlikely that supply will grow.

Prospects of the Internet in the Future

A study conducted by UNESCO suggests that per capita incomes correlate with the media infrastructure development of a country. It means that the country with a high per capita income will adopt a new medium such as Internet faster than low income per capita countries. With the per capita income of US$1100 in 1996, prior to the economic crisis, access to Internet was a luxury for most of the Indonesians, let alone after the crisis.
The Indonesian economic crisis, which started in 1997, is claimed to have slowed down the adoption of the Internet in the country due to the decline of purchasing power. It is reported that ‘[b]etween 1997 and 1998 there has been a substantial decline in real purchasing power of the average household.’ Within such a situation, people prefer to spend their expenses on basic needs; therefore computers and Internet connection, which are still luxuries for most Indonesian even prior to the crisis, are hardly to be on their purchasing list.
However, there has been significant economic growth since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono came to office in 2005 through the first direct presidential election in Indonesia. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) states that although the economic growth will slow in 2006 yet it will pick up in the following year. If the economy keeps growing then there is a possibility for further growth of the Internet due to the improvement in individual incomes so that computers and internet connection become more affordable. Although this would not happen in a short period of time, at least there is a glimpse of hope.
The provision of public access points in the form of Warnet (Internet Cafés) also promises better Internet access for the public as it offers affordable access. These public access points played an important role in introducing Internet to the public during the 1990s, and it seems they will play even more important roles at present and in the future. With 3000 rupiahs – 5000 rupiahs (46 – 76 cents), anyone can surf the web for an hour in Warnet in most cities. Therefore, even if an individual does not have a computer unit and Internet connection at home, she or he can just go to Warnet to log on to the web. It is suggested that this form of connection is affordable for the average working class or students.
Data from the Association of Indonesian Warnet (AWARI) cited by APJII suggest that there were 1800 Warnets in 2005 and these figures have reached 2500 in 2006. The proliferation of these public access points contribute to the significant growth of Internet users. As suggested by APJII there were 512,000 Internet users in 1998 and these figures increased sharply reaching 16 million in 2005. The average growth during those periods is 5 million users per year. However, the figure only increases by 4 million in 2006, reaching 20 million users. Such decreasing growth is suspected to be related to fuel prices hikes imposed by the Government leading to the soaring cost of basic needs. As a result, expenses for going to Warnet are put aside. This situation suggests that apart from economic obstacles to obtain Internet access due to the unaffordable prices of computers and Internet subscription fees, Warnet appears to become the solution in Indonesia.

Conclusions

Internet development in Asian countries, including Indonesia, is influenced by various economic, technological, cultural, and political factors. From economic viewpoint, there are two factors preventing the public from having access to the Internet namely high cost of computer units and Internet subscription fees. While from the cultural perspective, pornography is believed to hinder the development of the new medium in this country.
The public’s fears of Internet abuse by youths to access pornographic sites and the emergence of the sex industries online could diminish the prospect of the ongoing development of the Internet in the future, in Indonesia. However, significant growth in the Indonesian economy since 2005 is expected to boost the development of this new medium in the future as suggested by UNESCO whereby economic factors correlate with the development of media infrastructure development of a country. In addition, apart from the existence of the ‘Internet threat’, the number of public access points (Warnet) has been promulgating in recent years. These factors indicate that the Internet, which is ‘expensive’ and ‘dangerous’, still shows significant growth despite such economic turmoil and despite a ‘conservative’ culture.
These facts are interesting and it is believed that a more comprehensive study of the developments of the Internet in Indonesia is required to ascertain what exactly has happened as the economic and cultural factors examined here are only a few of the related factors. Yet this piece is useful in order to develop initial understanding of the development of this new medium of communication in developing Indonesia.

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