Proposal of the Indonesian Framework for Telecommunications Infrastructure Based on Network and Socioeconomic Indicators

Abstract

In Indonesia, there is still a disparity in telecommunications access, with most rural areas experiencing “no signal” or “blank spots.” In contrast, urban areas enjoy modern and societally-beneficial technologies. A comprehensive framework is needed to address the disparity in telecommunications access between “rich” and “poor” groups in urban and rural/remote areas, respectively. This paper proposes a framework, built by the mathematical model, that can be used as a reference for the Indonesian government in constructing the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure. The framework categorizes Indonesian administrative regions into four grids: Grid #1: “fostered” districts; Grid #2: “developing” districts; Grid #3: “developed” districts; and Grid #4: “independent-advanced” districts. To determine where each district falls in these grids, we propose a novel statistical approach using 17 indicators involving a telecommunications network and socioeconomic factors. The proposed framework results in a grid visualization of 7232 districts in Indonesia. Finally, as this paper is replete with academic research approaches and mathematical model perspectives, it is expected that the results may be a valuable input to the development of the country’s telecommunications policy.