The idea of providing equal distribution of internet access to all Indonesian population doesn’t only come from Over-The-Top (OTT) players and the government. BigNet, an Indonesian Internet Service Provider (ISP), does have that idea as well. Partnering with Singapore-based Kacific, BigNet plans on presenting affordable internet access all over Indonesia.
As an archipelagic country, Indonesia indeed in a unique challenge to many internet industry players in the country. BigNet’s strategy is by partnering with Kacific in sending their High-through put Screener (HTS) signal through Ka-band satellite to all BigNet’s customers. Later, they would be able to enjoy high speed internet access by installing the affordable VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal).
“The people live in an area where forestry and fishery industries dominate, unfortunately that isn’t enough to convince ISPs to serve the market with fixed line networks services. However, Kacific’s HTS and VSAT promise high quality internet access at affordable rate to the people,” BigNet’s Business Development Director Zoel Gandhi said.
Currently, the best mobile network available in Indonesia is 4G/LTE. Most of mobile broadband networks in Indonesia are still based on 3G or even 2G. It doesn’t suit the required capability and performance, which is far beyond available dedicated broadband.
“This is a great achievement for Kacific, and a promising potential for Indonesia. […] The high demand on internet broadband access is challenged by the high cost. Offering the access at affordable rate can result on huge opportunity which has yet been massively implemented in Asia Pacific,” said Kacific’s CEO Kristen Patoraux.
BigNet and Kacific agreed to sign a long-term partnership worth $78 million or around Rp 1 trillion. Both believe that affordable internet broadband access will cover the uncovered, the rural areas of Indonesia for instance.