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ndonesian netizens were amazed by a picture of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg enjoying the sunrise at Borobudur on Oct. 13. President-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo told Zuckerberg that Indonesia should also benefit from internet.org, the platform Zuckerberg was promoting on his trip.

The Facebook founder, through internet.org, invited the government and telecom operators to empower people through Internet use. He said that people could be empowered through the Internet as it could boost business growth and create new jobs.

In Indonesia, while most people are connected to a cellular network, broadband penetration remains at 10 percent, according to the Communications and Information Ministry. Indonesia also has one of the lowest Internet penetrations in Southeast Asia.

The high uptake of voice services compared to data services has made telecom operators think twice about upgrading from 3.5G to 4G technology. Additionally, low population density makes it economically unjustifiable for telecom operators to provide fixed line infrastructure in rural places.

Even if infrastructure problems were fixed in the next several years, would people benefit from broadband, anyway? This would be like giving a gun to a 5-year-old. We need to be concerned about the effects of the Internet on society as well. Our society needs to be preconditioned before we provide it with broadband. We need to ensure that everybody is not just using the Internet for gaming purposes, but rather to promote small businesses.

Fahry Adnantya
Bandung