First of all, with the current infrastructure and communication policies in Indonesia, you will not get the correct Internet line, but you can optimize the possibilities to get a good line.

Hopefully, I will be able to rewrite this article in a few months or years and paint or prettier picture, but I personally doubt it.

Indonesia is not well developed when it comes to fiber optic cables, these cables are usually present in the urban centers and usually they are installed along major roads.

This means that if you are not located near by a major road (toll road) or directly in a central business district changes are that you do not have any alternative suppliers when choosing a line – the suppliers knows that and even though there are communication regulations they are seldom used.

This means that the suppliers will take what they can get. The rates are usually between USD 30 and USD 300 monthly (that is what the suppliers calculated will attract clients), but the number of clients and the fees are not backed up by better equipment in the data centers.

Basically that means that the lines are unstable, slow and sometimes non-existing. As a client you can do very little about it. Another trick that most suppliers use is to gradually cut the bandwidth from new clients until they complain – a line that worked very well when it got installed will typically be at half speed within 6 months. You can then start complaining or change operator (if possible).

If you are a company and need stability and speed, you have hope. There are providers that offer you dedicated lines or lines shared between very few clients. These lines are however costly a 2 Mbit dedicated line will cost you approximately USD 1.500 monthly, double that amount if you need 4 Mbit – there are no discount rates for being a large client.

These lines will either be installed via fiber or wireless connections.
That is right, I did not tell you have to get the correct Internet connection because there is no correct way – however, there are a few rules:

1. If you feel you Internet connection slows down – keep on complaining, they might one day turn up the speed again.
2. Try to prove that the Internet line is getting slower – either get an expert to do it, or if you are computer savvy yourself use software to test line speeds or the “tracert” command to check millisecond upload time. This helps when complaining.
3. If possible find areas to setup business where you have alternate Internet opportunities. If communication is a key success factor, find locations where this is possible, there is a good chance that you Internet expenses will equal your rent anyway.
4. Do not make long term contracts that binds you to a provider for years ahead.