Jakarta (ANTARA) - Communication and Informatics Minister Budi Arie Setiadi has highlighted that access to the internet is the people's right, and providing internet connectivity is the responsibility of the government.

He made the statement during the inauguration of a 4G Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and the integration of the Republic of Indonesia Satellite-1 (SATRIA-1) earth station in Talaud Islands district, North Sulawesi, on Thursday.

"Hopefully, this inauguration also marks a new stage for us all to continue to improve people's access to connectivity," he said.

Setiadi added that apart from meeting people's needs for clothing, food, and housing, the government is also obliged to provide access to the internet, as urged by the United Nations (UN) and other international institutions.

He also touched on the issue of the 4G BTS construction project in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) areas, especially Papua, which is still being hampered by geographical challenges and security issues.

So far, a total of 4,990 new 4G BTS towers have become operational across the country, but there are still around 630 that need to be worked on, including in Papua. Setiadi is targeting to complete them over the next three months, or by the first half of 2024.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics, through its Telecommunication and Informatics Accessibility Agency (BAKTI), has divided the infrastructure construction into two stages.

The first stage was completed in 2020 with as many as 1,682 BTS constructed. All telecommunication services were migrated to 4G networks the same year.

Meanwhile, the second stage of the BTS construction project was divided into two phases, which were to be completed in 2021 and 2022, and covered 5,618 locations.

However, during the second phase, a legal case delayed the project.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics is currently making structural changes to BAKTI.

The financing for the construction project is being accelerated using funding sourced from the state budget and non-tax state revenue managed by BAKTI.

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