Jayapura, May 14, 2025 — The Governor of Papua Pegunungan, John Tabo, is advocating for an increase in internet network capacity in the region from 5.7 Gigabits per second (Gbps) to 20 Gbps. This effort is seen as essential to support the acceleration of digital-based development in the newly established autonomous region.
According to John Tabo, Papua Pegunungan currently has a population of 1,470,518 people, with 97 percent being Indigenous Papuans (OAP). Given these figures, he emphasized the urgent need to enhance bandwidth capacity to prevent the community from being left behind in the digital era.
“As a new autonomous region, Papua Pegunungan requires adequate digital infrastructure support. Increasing bandwidth is one of our priorities to ensure wider and better-quality internet access,” said John Tabo in a press release in Jayapura, Tuesday (5/13).
The Papua Pegunungan Provincial Government has taken several steps, including sending an official letter to the Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs of Indonesia and holding a meeting with Telkomsel on April 24 to discuss the matter.
Furthermore, Governor John Tabo highlighted that connectivity needs are becoming increasingly urgent as many government activities are now conducted online, including regular virtual meetings with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Additionally, MSME players in Papua Pegunungan also require reliable internet for digital marketing, online transactions, and customer communications.
“We hope Telkomsel will assist in accelerating the bandwidth expansion so that digitalization and equitable development can be realized in Papua Pegunungan,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Telkomsel’s General Manager of Region Network Operations and Productivity for Maluku Papua, Yasrinaldi, expressed full support for the plan to increase network capacity in the region.
However, he explained that telecommunications access in Papua Pegunungan currently relies heavily on the Palapa Ring East (PRT) satellite network owned by the government through the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Kemkomdigi), specifically managed by BAKTI Komdigi.
“Enhancing network capacity requires close collaboration with all stakeholders, from the central government through Kemkomdigi and BAKTI to the Papua Pegunungan provincial government,” said Yasrinaldi.
