The government’s ambitious nationwide Palapa Ring project is expected to be operational by mid-2019. The project is intended to improve internet access in rural areas throughout Indonesia and support the country’s digital economy.The Palapa Ring project has reached 96.3 percent completion as of this month. “Everywhere will be connected to the internet,” National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said in his keynote address at the GovPay and GovNext forum at Hotel Mulia in Jakarta.He envisioned the project’s completion would pave the way for smarter cities, new start-ups, more household entrepreneurs and, most critically, boost the overall digital economy to the targeted US$100 billion by 2025, as published in a landmark Google-Temasek report.The multibillion-rupiah project, the construction of which is divided into west, central and east regions, remains incomp...