Internet tariffs in Indonesia turned out to be the second cheapest in the world after India. This low tariff is due to intense competition among local cellular operators.
Director of Telecommunications at the Directorate General of PPI, Ministry of Communications and Informatics, Aju Widya Sari, quoted from the Selular TV Youtube channel, Monday (4/4/2022), said, “In terms of tariffs, for example, the average internet service in Indonesia is quite low. Package 1 GB is valued at Rp. 6 thousand. Compared to other countries, we are number 2 after India.”
He added, “The competition for internet and mobile broadband in Indonesia is quite tight. The package products offered are quite a lot. Especially for the 1GB package, the price ranges from Rp. 6 thousand, which is very low compared to other countries”.
In Aju’s presentation, Indonesia is in the 12th position for the cheapest internet prices among 230 countries in the world. In addition, domestic internet prices are the cheapest in Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, the data presented also shows that the average price of 1GB in Indonesia is US$0.42 (Rp 6 thousand), with the lowest price being US$ 0.17 (Rp 2,400) per Giga.
From the Kominfo report for 2021, it can be seen that the quota price is less or up to 1GB in the range of IDR 5-7 thousand per GB. A quota of more than 1GB to or less than 2GB is IDR 6-13 thousand.
While the quota is more than 2GB to or less than 10GB between IDR 4-11 thousand. A quota of more than 10 GB is IDR 2-7 thousand.
Aju explained that there are quite a lot of products offered by cellular operators. Month to month can reach 1000’s internet products.
“And these products show how fierce competition is in the mobile broadband industry,” he explained.
The Government Must Fully Support Internet Development
Previously, in a webinar entitled Are Internet Tariffs the Main Barrier to the Realization of a Connected Indonesia (17/3), Ismail explained that currently many costs are difficult to predict by telecommunications operators when deploying fiber optic networks in the regions. Such as licensing and also levy or rental rates.
Ismail understands that each region has a target for local revenue (PAD), but the local government should not seek to increase PAD in the development of telecommunications infrastructure. This is because telecommunications infrastructure is the main capital of the regional government in improving the economy of the community in a region.
According to him, if the local government facilitates the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure, there will be a lot of economic activity that will grow in the area, the telecommunications infrastructure will be better, and will improve the welfare of the community.
According to Ismail, the Central Government wants telecommunications infrastructure to be available everywhere at an affordable price for the public. The Ministry of Communications and Informatics wants the optical cables to be deployed in the regions to be well organized and not chaotic.
With the telecommunications infrastructure, industries such as tourism, transportation, education, or manufacturing will be created. Later, the local government can get from taxes.
With the optimization between ease of licensing, arrangement of optical cables, and support from the local government in providing SJUT, Ismail hopes that the internet, which is currently a vital necessity for national economic growth, can make a positive contribution to Indonesia’s economic development to become a developed country in the world.
