Cooperation between central and local governments is necessary for building information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure in Papua and West Papua, according to the Ministry of Communication and Informatics.
“It is necessary so that the speed of infrastructure development runs smoothly,” Minister of Communication and Informatics, Johnny G. Plate, remarked during a working visit to Papua, according to a press statement released here on Friday.
He said the ministry is looking forward to a discussion on ICT development covering tower construction, VSAT, and power supply establishment to produce signal coverage.
He affirmed that the efforts are aimed at providing telecommunication services to the people of Papua and West Papua.
Cooperation with local governments is a necessity because ICT infrastructure development is related to Papua and West Papua’s provincial, city, district, sub-district, and village administrations’ planning, he added.
“ICT infrastructure not only will be built on air or under the sea, but also on land,” he informed.
“Therefore, the launch of fiber optics, microwave links, and ground segments for satellites and internet access cannot be built based on our imaginations. Hence, we hope that local governments can take part in the development of ICT infrastructure,” Plate said.
Infrastructure building in the signal range area will provide optimization for local governments to develop their spatial planning to be well-coordinated, he added.
In the same press statement, director general of the Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI), Anang Latif, highlighted that the agency has built 4G base transceiver station (BTS) towers at 213 locations in Papua from 2015 to 2020.
BAKTI will build another 4,380 4G BTS towers in Papua by 2022, he added.
While in West Papua, 4G BTS towers have been installed at 244 location points from 2015 to 2020, he said. The agency will add another 824 towers by 2022, he added.
Not only 4G BTS towers, but BAKTI has also provided Internet and WiFi access at public service locations such as schools, health centers, and government offices, Latif added.
BAKTI is already providing free WiFi at more than 1,200 public service points in Papua and more than 1,882 points in West Papua, he said.
Source: Antara News