Internet: Last piece of fibre-optic jigsaw
Wow, I thought, when I saw
this headline, but my excitement was premature because the headline continues into a second (and third!) line with ...
as cable links east Africa to grid.
Well, lucky East Africa I say.
They are the arteries of the modern world. Stretching for tens of thousands of miles over the ocean beds, the vast web of intercontinental submarine cables have brought the possibility of cheap high-speed internet and clear long-distance telephone calls to all major parts of the globe. Except one.
East Africa remains the only large, inhabited coastline cut off from the global fibre-optic network. Reliant entirely on expensive satellite connections, people on the world's poorest continent pay some of the highest rates for logging on or phoning. The
only large, inhabited coastline cut off from the global fibre-optic network and "some of the highest rates for logging on or phoning"?? Doesn't Indonesia count?
I live in Indonesia's mega city. I regularly use the internet; in fact I depend on it for income sources, yet I am "
cut off from the global fibre-optic network". And why? Because fibre-optic network providers, such as
First Media, which is currently teasing me with brochures and promises to "empower" me with a FREE cable modem and installation - if I go for the super-strength office network downloads, won't actually connect me to their network a mere five minute stroll away. Why? Because although I live in a very mixed community, it isn't an upmarket
komplek.
"T
he speed that knowledge currently moves in Africa is 5mph - walking pace."
Strange to think that, as
I noted a couple of days ago, Indonesia, né the Dutch East Indies, was at the forefront of international communications 150 years ago, yet
a report published six months or so ago says this:
Commercial Internet services commenced in Indonesia in 1995. Coming into 2008, Indonesia had an estimated 25 million Internet users. This, however, represented only around 10% of the population. And broadband Internet services were still very much in their infancy. Problems with inferior telecommunications infrastructure were likely to continue to impede Internet growth. However, the country is considered to have enormous potential as an online market.
Don't you love that word 'potential'? It covers such a multitude of sins.
Given the parlous state of the internet provision in Indonesia, one may be forgiven for assuming that communication here is little better than in Africa. However, that doesn't take into account the fact that loads of folk here demonstrate that they're ambidextrous when it comes to texting to two communicants simultaneously - whilst.offering their fatuous thoughts.
And perhaps one should ignore the constant interruptions in any discourse with folk who have more money than sense yet lack common courtesy by neglecting to switch their multi-purpose handheld devices to the offline mode when engaged in a face-to-face discussion.
The following stats from
InternetWorld and the *
Indonesia Internet Service Provider Assoc. (APJII) may demonstrate remarkable growth percentage-wise, but as long as ISPs are dependent on access to the Telkom and Indosat satellite hubs, then as user numbers increase, each person online will get a proportionately smaller bandwidth.
Year.........Users........ Population......Penetration.......GDP US$2000
.....2,000,000
.......206,264,595
...........1.0%
................570
2007
...20,000,000
.......224,481,720
.......... 8.9%
.............1,280
2008
...25,000,000
.......237,512,355
.........10.5%
.............1,925*
Judging from my stats, the majority of Indonesia's users access the internet through their office computer. What is beginning to seriously piss me off is that I'm now beginning to be grateful if I can get on line using my dial up connection. That I may only get 1.5kbs is immaterial; actually getting on line is a success in itself.
Neighbouring Singapore is on the fibre-optic highway and can manage broadband for all, which is
free at the airport, so as to why Indonesia can't offer a similar service ......
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