Indonesia Among the 13 Biggest Internet Users

The Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil said that internet users in Indonesia reached 13 million people. This makes Indonesia the big 13 internet users in the world. However, 70 percent of the users are in large cities. The computer use as one way to access information is still very low, he said in Bali, Tuesday (28/8).

The minister said this in his speech opening the summit for Ministers of Telecommunication and Information Technology for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jimbaran, Bali. The meeting aims to intensify cooperation in spreading information technology among Southeast Asian Nations.

Sofyan Djalil said the equal spread of information technology in every Southeast Asian Nation is expected to stimulate technology growth and the economic competitive power in the region.

Technology development in Southeast Asian Nations, he said, has been growing slowly. However, several efforts have been made such as improving the network for internet and banking access. The high-speed telecommunication access should be ASEANs priority, he said.

The Director for International Relationship at the Communication and Information Ministry Ikhsan Baidirus said there has been a technology gap between city and rural areas. Around 40,000 villages in Indonesia do not have proper communication facilities. He expected the summit will find a way to make it equal in the Southeast Asian Nations including Indonesia. (TEMPO Interactive)

Yahoo seeks local partners to boost internet users

The regional unit of top internet portal Yahoo! is looking for new Indonesian partners to help expand its market in the country.

Pontus Sonnerstedt, senior director of business development at Yahoo! Southeast Asia, said in Jakarta on Friday the company needed new partners to lure more internet users to boost revenue from advertisement.

“Indonesia is a promising market thanks to its large population,” he told a media briefing.

The Singapore-based unit of the Internet giant has been working on improving its content in conjunction with several local players, including news, mobile phone and advertisement companies, Sonnerstedt said.

“We are cooperating with news providers ‘Kompas’ and ‘Detik’ to provide local news for users of Yahoo! in Indonesia,” he said.

He said his company had also been collaborating with local mobile phone partners Telkomsel, Indosat, Excelcomindo and Hutch 3 to provide news and messaging services on cellular phones.

“Any companies interested in posting their advertisements on the Yahoo! website can contact our partners Admax and Yellow Brick Road,” he said.

Senior manager of communications for Southeast Asia Jason Coates said the search-engine division of the company had recently been focusing on improving its home page display.

“This year we have launched new products, including Yahoo! Messenger for mobile phone users, Yahoo! GO 3G for mobiles and Yahoo! toolbar,” he said.

The company offers a number of products at its local domain www.yahoo.co.id.

In 2005, the regional unit launched Indonesian versions of Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Search.

In 2006, the company revamped its local home page and made improvements to its Indonesian-language variants of Yahoo! Messenger and Web Messenger.

“We will create more innovative products to attract new users in line with the increasing number of local internet users,” he said.

Indonesia has seen a rapid growth in the number of its internet users.

According to data from the Indonesian Association of Internet Service Providers, at the end of last year there were 25 million users in the country, up from 20 million in 2006 and 16 million in 2005.

Sonnerstedt, citing a study, expects internet users in Indonesia to reach 43 million by the end of 2009. [The Jakarta Post]