Highland Papua collaborates with Telkomsel to improve local internet service

The Highland Papua Provincial Government is collaborating with PT Telekomunikasi Selular, telecommunications state-owned enterprise (SOE) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (Telkom)'s subsidiary, to improve the quality of 4G/LTE internet service in Highland Papua.

The collaboration was discussed in a meeting between both parties on Apr. 24, 2025, that was attended directly by Highland Papua Governor John Tabo. He stated in the meeting that stable internet and network services are urgently needed in the province to support the performance of the government, private sector, and the local community at large.

"The addition of bandwidth in the Papua Pegunungan Province is included in the Governor's 100-day program," Tabo added.

Stable internet service is needed by the Highland Papua Provincial Government to support the necessary communication on the network with the Indonesian government through the Home Affairs Ministry.

"The Highland Papua Provincial Government conducts Zoom [meetings] with the Home Affairs Ministry every Monday and Thursday. The connection for the development planning meeting yesterday (Apr. 23, 2025) was not good as the bandwidth is still small. Therefore, we hope that the addition of bandwidth can be accelerated based on the letter we sent and yesterday's meeting," Tabo explained.

Meanwhile, Telkomsel Maluku Papua Network Operations and Productivity Region General Manager Yasrinaldi said that Telkomsel understands the importance of smooth 4G/LTE internet access to support all activities by the people of Highland Papua.

"With the improvement of internet services, information, digital services, and entertainment could be obtained faster by the community. Therefore, Telkomsel continues to strive to encourage joint collaboration to improve internet services in Highland Papua," he said.

Telkomsel believes that better 4G/LTE internet services in Papua Mountains Province can pave the way for the local community to receive a more evenly distributed digital and connectivity solutions.

"Currently, all available network access bandwidth capacity has been optimized to serve the people of Highland Papua Province. We will continue to optimize resources from Telkomsel's side, and hopefully synergy from various stakeholders can be realized so the improvement in internet connection quality could be enjoyed immediately by Highland Papua's people. We believe that joint collaboration with the governor and the provincial government is needed to raise the network access bandwidth capacity," said Yasrinaldi.

Telkomsel's telecommunications services in Highland Papua Mountains is connected via the government's Palapa Ring Timur (PRT) satellite operated by the Communications and Digital Ministry's Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI).

"Telkomsel cannot work alone to improve internet access services in Papua Mountains Province. Additional bandwidth capacity is by BAKTI Komdigi and collaboration with other stakeholders to support efforts to provide better 4G/LTE internet services are necessary." he explained.

Yasrinaldi added that the results of the meeting with John Tabo regarding the limitations of the current transmission access bandwidth against the bandwidth needs for service improvement have been officially submitted to the Communication and Digital Ministry.

"Hopefully, all stakeholders will collaborate to build an inclusive digital ecosystem throughout Highland Papua in order to optimize the region's various potentials," he concluded.