Building Communities in Country’s Border Areas

In an effort to enforce the sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia and to accelerate the growth of the people's economy, network infrastructure continues to be consistently presented in the foremost and outermost regions of Indonesia. Over the past year, more than 120 new base transceiver stations (BTS) have been built in areas directly adjacent to neighboring countries, so now 753 BTSs are now fully operated across Indonesia's border areas.

Communicating and interconnecting is the right of all Indonesians, without exception. The effort to unify the country is continuously done to build and to open telecommunication services access throughout Indonesia, including the border areas of the country. The deployment of telecommunication networks reaching every inch of the country's territory is done to liberate all Indonesian people from the isolation of communication.

753 BTSs that have been built are located on the border with seven neighboring countries: 17 BTSs are located in Batam and Bintan bordering Singapore; 276 BTSs is bordered by Malaysia in Dumai, Rokan, Bintan, Karimun, Anambas, West Kalimantan, North Borneo, Northern Sumatra, Rokan Hilir; 70 BTSs in Natuna and Anambas bordering Vietnam, 210 BTSs in East Nusa Tenggara borders Timor Leste; 66 BTSs on Rote and Maluku Islands borders Australia; 70s BTS in North Sulawesi borders Philippines; and 44 BTSs in eastern Papua bordering Papua New Guinea.

Of all BTSs in the border region of the country, 240 BTSs are present in locations previously untouched by telecommunication access. At some frontier points, collaboration with the government is being built to promote people in the region. In fact, to provide convenience to the public in using data services, 177 BTSs has been equipped with 4G and 3G mobile broadband technologies.

The presence of broadband services for local communities is expected to encourage development in border areas, including accelerating economic and community growth, as well as being a catalyst in promoting regional potentials, as well as increasing investment attractiveness, business opportunities, and even new jobs. With networks spread all the way to the country, Indonesia is connected through telecommunication services that open new opportunities and promote positive socio-economic impacts for the community.

On the other hand, acknowledging the important position of geopolitically strategic border regions, the presence of services in these locations certainly further strengthens the maintenance of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. The development of telecommunication infrastructure in the outer islands as well as state borders is a form of support in maintaining the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, enhancing national resilience, as well as unifying the Indonesian nation spread over the various islands in this archipelago country. The opening of communication access is also very helpful for the national army, especially in supporting various operational activities of the army who served in the front guard in maintaining the integrity of the state.

Nationally, more than 146,000 Telkomsel BTSs have been deployed to reach up to 95% of the Indonesian population. Of these, more than 96,000 BTSs are 4G and 3G BTS to ensure customers enjoying quality data services.