Minister of Communications and Information Technology (Minister of Communication), Tifatul Sembiring, ensuring Palapa Ring project will begin implementation on November 30, 2009. "Palapa Ring for the eastern region of Indonesia or volume 2 will be launched 30 November 2009," said Tifatul Sembiring, after opening Scout Workshop on Disaster Management in Asia-Pacific Complex Cibubur Scout Movement, Jakarta, Monday.

He said the initial implementation of the physical development of fiber optic cable along 11 thousand miles is planned to be inaugurated by the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. According to the President's plan will hold a teleconference with the communities in eastern Indonesia marked the start of the mega-project.

"This program is included in the priority program Depkominfo for the first 100 days," he said. He said the project was focused on Eastern Indonesia because the Indonesian territory of West telecommunication infrastructure has been integrated well in advance. For its part to make sure the 2010 will also finance the Palapa Ring project through incentives to the Palapa Ring Consortium.

It plans to use funds from the postal Universal Service Obligation (USO) is the average amount of Rp1, 2 trillion per year. He considered, our telecommunications infrastructure in Indonesia is still very sad because it only integrates the western part of Indonesian territory only.

Palapa Ring project was running smoothly because the Palapa Ring Consortium as an investor and executor consisting of private telecom operators slowly falling members. Of the original six operators, which now survive only three operators namely PT Telkom, PT Indosat and PT Bakrie Telecom (B-Tel), after PT Exelcomindo resigned recently.

Automatic investment value they collect continues to erode and differentiated into only 150 million U.S. dollars remaining at this time. That number comes from PT Telkom 90 million U.S. dollars, 30 million U.S. dollars of Indosat, and 30 million U.S. dollars of PT B-Tel. The number was also briefly differentiated with changes in the exchange rate of rupiah against the U.S. dollar.

Palapa Ring Consortium Chairman, Rakhmat Hidayat, recently said, the government's involvement in the fiber-optic project in eastern Indonesia is absolutely necessary. In fact it has long suggested that a variety of serious consideration.

"We welcome the intention government, we've talked several times that the government should help. For us the funds we have still have limitations, "he said. Moreover, according to him, already it is common in other countries, participating governments to build telecommunications infrastructure networks.

Depkominfo states is still set up an incentive scheme that will be awarded to the consortium as yet to be discussed at the Finance Ministry.

Sources: Reuters , posted on Monday, November 16, 2009