Wireless ISP Net1 Indonesia has revealed it is ready to support the government's rural development agenda by bringing broadband internet to rural areas, especially in hard to reach and least developed regions.
The operator is deploying an LTE network over the 450-MHz band to maximize coverage areas, and its goal of improving coverage in rural areas is in line with the government's Nawa Cita agenda for developing Indonesia's rural areas.
During a discussion forum on the universal service obligation last week, Net1 CEO Larry Ridwan said improving the availability of telecoms infrastructure in rural areas will be key to realizing this agenda. Currently only 73% of villages have 3G internet access and only 55% have 4G access.
“Net1 4G LTE Network at 450MHz is able to reach 50-60km, even up to 100km, from a base transceiver station, so it is suitable for archipelago country like Indonesia which has 16,056 islands In terms of infrastructure investment in developing the site, it is certainly more efficient,” he said.
The company has so far deployed LTE services across 19 provinces, comprising 306 districts and 25,279 villages. The company has a population coverage of around 126.3 million, nearly half of Indonesia's total population.
Net1 Indonesia has already been collaborating with a number of local governments at the district and province level throughout Indonesia on its network rollout.
The Net1 Indonesia brand is operated by PT Sampoerna Telekomunikasi Indonesia (STI) in collaboration with Scandinavian networking company ice group.