Ashwin Sasongko, Director General of Information Technology Application, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, said that at the end of this year, every district in Indonesia will be connected to the internet. This is said after inaugurating Indonesia ICT Award (INAICTA) 2012 in Jakarta on Tuesday.

As quoted by Antaranews, by the end of this year, 100% of all 5748 points in the capital district in Indonesia will be connected to the internet through Penyediaan Layanan Internet Kecamatan (PLIK) – District Internet Service Provider. PLIK is a program of Ministry of Communication and Information Technology launched in early 2010 in hopes of eliminating the communication gap between communities in Indonesia that are constrained by the width and contour of Indonesian region which consists of more than 17,000 islands.

PLIK takes form in a kind of internet café with 5 PCs which use VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) technology to connect to the internet. PLIK is provided in the district capital by placing it in a house or cooperative.

On the implementation of this program, the government introduced Mobil Pusat Layanan Internet Kecamatan (MPLIK) – District Internet Service Car. MPLIK is PLIK in a form of a minibus. In addition of 6 netbooks, MPLIK also provides hotspot access, 32 inch LCD TV, DVD player and generator as a power plant.

In DailySocial search, we found the news that at the end of March, MPLIK has reached the easternmost territory of the Republic of Indonesia, Merauke. Official site of Merauke regency government has revealed that there are 5 units of MPLIK that has arrived in Jakarta. However, MPLIK will be operated in Merauke district that can be accessed by land routed with good road conditions.

The challenge faced by Ministry of Communication and Information Technology is that in some areas in Indonesia, basic infrastructure standard such as decent road access is sometimes not met. Such areas are not only at the farthest part of Indonesia but even in the island of Java such as in Banten. Can the Ministry be sure that it is able to bring the internet to such areas by the end of this year?

Image source: Ashwin Sasongko and MPLIK.