Residents of Cilimus Hideung village in Cibatu district, Garut, West Java, are now able to access low-cost internet thanks to the efforts of resident Budi Hermawan.

Budi, who has worked in the IT and internet industry for the past few years, has established the Techno Science Village-owned Enterprise (Bumka Tekno Sains), which has installed 5 kilometers of a targeted 15-kilometer fiber-optic internet network. 

The network has provided unlimited internet access for the 257 families of Cilimus Hideung village for only Rp 33,000 (US$ 2.24) per family per month.

“This has been my dream for five years, and it’s so nice to see it come true,” Budi said, as quoted by kompas.com on Monday.

“Hopefully, we can expand the network to 15 kilometers by the end of this month so that internet access can reach the neighboring villages of Cibunar and Mekarsari,” he said.

Villagers can purchase daily or weekly Internet subscriptions from Bumka staff or from their community and neighborhood unit heads. 

Tati, a resident of Cilimus Hideung, said she really appreciated the affordable internet access provided by Bumka Tekno Sains, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had forced students to study from home.

“For Rp 33,000, my children can study online,” she said, adding that she previously had to spend more for mobile internet data so that her children could attend online classes.

Unfortunately, Budi said, he had yet to obtain an Internet Service Provider (ISP) license, but he hoped that the government would help facilitate the administrative process to obtain it.

“We’ve only asked for the government’s help for the license. We’ve already constructed the infrastructure and other necessities,” Budi said. (dpk)

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