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AKARTA: PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (TLKM) has planned to spend US$150 million this year on fiber optic network development to meet the growing demand for data transmission.

 “The fiber optic project is ongoing,” Telkom president director Rinaldi Firmansyah said on Tuesday. The company has planned to build a 47,000-kilometer fiber optic network spanning from Aceh to Papua so that internet access across the country could be equitably fast.

 “The funding will use our internal cash,” Rinaldi said. As a wider master plan to build nationwide broadband access, Telkom has planned on Rp 21.19 trillion (US$ 2.3 billion) in expenditures from 2011 to 2015 to provide 20 Mbps to 100 Mbps internet access to its subscribers’ residences in at least 497 cities.