Internet Access Is Important for Startup Progress

In Indonesia, startup founders and pioneers consider that the existence of a broad and even internet reach is more needed than the fifth-generation technology or 5G. Botika’s Founder & CEO, Ditto Anindita, said that the wide and evenly distributed internet coverage was very helpful in business development.

Botika itself is a company that focuses on the corporate sector. It offers a conversation robot that can answer questions raised by customers to the company. Botika provides chatbots that help customer service, without internet service, it’s more difficult for customers to be served quickly and efficiently.

When talking about 5G technology, Ditto assumed that it was needed for the development of his company’s services, especially in the field of smart speakers and the Internet of Things. This is because the speed and bandwidth will be increased.

With 5G fast internet, exchanging big data like audio and video is faster. On the other hand, CAKAP Co-Founder & CEO, Tomy Yunus, said that the current internet speed is sufficient to support teaching and learning activities through applications.

Even with the speed of 2 Mbps obtained from the Palapa Ring, the video call process ran smoothly. What is needed now to expand the business of CAKAP, he said, is the reach of the internet. The wider the market coverage, the better.

Company Founder: Evenly Distributed Internet Access Is More Important Than 5G

Although some companies require broad coverage, unfortunately, the current conditions that occur in Indonesia are the opposite. OpenSignal, a private company specializing in mapping wireless coverage, said that rural areas in Indonesia have not been touched by 4G networks.

Operators tend to target network development in densely populated areas because it is commercially profitable. The trend of selective logging in building networks also occurs in neighboring countries such as the Philippines and Malaysia. That makes the internet uneven to other regions.

OpenSignal researcher Hardik Khatri said that some might claim that the 4G network is located almost all over Indonesia. On the other hand, there is a connectivity gap between sparsely populated rural areas compared to densely populated urban areas.

For research, OpenSignal uses census data from the Indonesian Statistics Agency (BPS) to classify districts and cities into five different categories. It is based on the population in the city/district. It was found that densely populated districts have more access to the 4G network.

The Government Plans to Develop the Internet Network into 5G

Some cities or regions in Indonesia still have low internet coverage. There are still many who are only able to use or reach the internet only with networks that are still in the early generation, the generation of data networks, namely:

1. 2G network

2G networks emerged in the 1990s that incorporated digital signals into cellular networks. 2G is the first digital implementation of wireless voice communication. With the concept of CDMA and GSM, the maximum speed of a 2G network can reach 50 Kbps or 1 Mbps.

2. 3G network

This generation sets the standard for most wireless technologies that we are familiar with and use today. In this generation introduced in 2001 the maximum speed of the internet could reach 0.2 Mbps.

3. 4G network

The 4G network has begun to increase data bandwidth around ten times that of the 3G network. The maximum speed of a 4G network is 100 Mbps or 1 Gbps.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Research and Technology considers that in terms of communication and information technology, Indonesia is lagging behind other countries, specifically related to the 5G network. This is assumed to have an impact on slowing down company growth.

Minister of Research and Technology, Bambang Brodjonegoro said that Indonesian companies not only compete with local companies but also with international companies. Thus, the existence of the latest technology is needed in competition of startup, considering that other countries have used the latest technology, such as 5G.