The Minister of Communications and Informatics Johnny G. Plate stated that the Government is preparing 4G as the backbone and 5G experience during the motorbike racing. This is part of the support for the telecommunications infrastructure sector to make the Mandalika 2022 motorbike racing sporting a success. In fact, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics has also increased bandwidth and prepared a 5G showcase.
Meanwhile, one telecommunications operator will also show a 5G case with fixed wireless access technology and immersive extended reality in the form of virtual racing. There will be a lot of 5G that will be placed in Mandalika for the experience using virtual reality that can be witnessed later. In essence, the cooperation between the Ministry and cellular operators as well as fibre optic operators is continuously coordinated.
To anticipate the increase in telecommunication users, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics has prepared an additional spectrum so that the Mandalika 2022 motorbike racing will run well. There will be 110 thousand visitors to Mandalika, which means the traffic bandwidth is high. We must prepare sufficient bandwidth so that the internet upload and download speeds are also smooth.
The average use of the lowest internet capacity between 2-3 Mbps speed must be prepared. Currently, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics has measured the availability in the Mandalika area above 10 Mbps. When a lot of people come, it will definitely have an effect. So that during the competition, everyone needs internet service, the Ministry will take care of this service properly so that they prepare 4G and 5G in massive areas.
With Indonesia set to become one of the world’s digital economic powerhouses, 5G will play an instrumental role in the economy going forward. To be among the world’s top five largest economies by 2045, the digital transformation is a crucial element for enterprises in speeding up growth to move away from a resources-driven economy to a knowledge- and digital-based economy. From smart factories to an AI-based new capital city in Kalimantan and digital-based agricultural businesses to the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), Indonesia has the potential to become Southeast Asia’s largest 5G market.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, Indonesia has one of the world’s highest percentages of internet users. Nonetheless, when compared to other Asian countries, it has a low internet penetration rate. In 2021, mobile internet penetration in Indonesia is expected to be 68%. Its reach is expected to increase to 79% by 2025. The penetration rate is the proportion of the total population that has internet access via a mobile broadband connection.
With increasing mobile internet penetration in the country, there has been an increase in demand for lower data prices, greater coverage, and better service quality. As a key strategy to attract more customers, Indonesian internet providers have proposed attractive data pricing plans as well as optimised data-oriented mobile services.
Moreover, on the popularity of mobile internet, fixed broadband subscriptions in Indonesia have been increasing in recent years. As a result, broadband penetration rates among households in the country have increased.
After the transition of terrestrial television broadcasting from analogue to digital, the Ministry of Communications and Informatics anticipates a frequency spectrum allocation for fast internet. According to the Director-General of Information and Public Communication, the 700-MHz frequency band is a gold band for improving broadband internet.
