Indonesia is leading the way in its attempts to provide the entirety of the country with access to the internet. In recent years, the country has seen a boom in the number of internet users. In 2010, the International Telecommunication Union reported 9.1 internet users per 100 inhabitants in Indonesia. However, recent figures from the Indonesian Communication Ministry reveal over 45 million internet users in Indonesia, almost twice those in 2010.

Such a rapid expansion has arisen from both an increase in the popularity of internet sites such as Facebook, Indonesia has the world’s second largest number of Facebook users, and an increase in technology where residents of large urban areas benefit from high-speed mobile internet.

However, some of the more rural areas of the country are still without such options. This is unsurprising given the challenges associated with connecting a country made up of over 17 000 islands. Steps are now being taken to counter this through initiatives such as the Palapa Ring Project which aims to provide better communications to Indonesia with the installation over over 50 000km of fibre optic cable. Other projects include the internet van program in which the government has provided nearly 2000 vans supplied with mobile computing abilities to visit rural areas of the country.

Such varying attempts will go a long way to providing both a wide ranging and reliable internet service across the entirety of Indonesia. Recent forecasts suggst a tripling of internet users in Indonesia by 2015 and few would doubt this based on recent trends.

Tags: fibre optic, Indonesia, internet, Internet vans