The purpose of this paper is to give information on the experience to implement a pilot project of Community Teleservice Center.

INTRODUCTION

In 1997 Indonesia was hit by monetary crisis which then become economic crisis until now. The status of Indonesian telecommunication infrastructure and other indicator are as follow:
     a. Telecommunication density : 3.6%
     b. Computer density : 0.9%
     c. Internet subscriber : 0.48%
     d. TV/Radio density : 60%

The majority of Indonesian population lives in rural area. According to the BPS data, 99% of Indonesian private sector are SME and micro scale businesses.

Thus we can understand that the people or the community living in the rural areas and with insufficient telecommunication infrastructure will be at the disadvantage position. The rural community or the disadvantage community has no or less access to the telecommunication infrastructure and to the information, thus will create a disadvantage position also in economic activities. This situation, if continued, will make the rural community left behind compare to the community that has access to telecommunication access and to the information, furthermore the Indonesian people will be left behind compare to the other country. The digital divide occurs not only between Indonesian and other countries, but also within countries.

From the ITU, we understand that the growth of 1% teledensity will drive the economic growth of 3%. Therefore we think that the telecommunication development should be placed to drive the economic growth.
Given that almost all communication technologies are available in Indonesia, it should not be a problem to develop the technology that is suitable for a specific community.

Considering the regional autonomy which were becoming effective since 1 January 2000, we expect that the regional areas should be given more alternatives to increase their capability and competitive advantage in the competition era.

We learned that ITU has a CTC concept that we thought is a suitable answer for the (rural) community in Indonesia to solve the above mentioned and the digital divide problem. We believe that the community, if equipped with the right technology off access, and capability to use the technology, can adapt to the technology and becoming more creative in finding alternative solutions for their problems or needs. Thus the community empowerment if implemented widely will be the key driver of the national development.

BENEFIT OF CTC

MASTEL has adopted the ITU concept of Community Teleservice Center (CTC) which translated into Indonesian language as “Balai Informasi Masyarakat” (BIM). CTC according to MASTEL’s concept is a location with access facilities and infocom services, including the information or additional facilities that can be used as a shared facility by the society and for the benefit of the surrounding society in the CTC location. With only one set of computer, printer and scanner, also one access to communication, a facility can be turned into a CTC.

Moreover in a CTC, surrounding society can form discussion forum on interesting topic to discuss as needed. CTC can also be a central location where government or interesting parties can distribute important information to the society surrounding CTC. More activities can also be created, such as training or consulting.

Benefit for the society

Thus, the society can benefit from CTC because they can get up to date information that they need. In a village where the residents in majority are farmers, information such as the price of seeds, fertilizers, price of commodity will be important as well as information on weather forecast and plant disease. Simple application of electronic transaction, accounting and e-government will be useful for citizens and micro to small businesses. In the field of health, information on epidemic, prevention of epidemic, family planning, can also be effectively disseminated.

Benefit for the government

On the other hand, the government can gain benefit of CTC development. The government will reach one of its objectives, which is to increase access penetration. The impact of CTC is far better than the impact of one telephone line, because a CTC operates based on shared access, thus will be used by more people and by the whole population surrounding it. Government can use CTC as an alternative means to disseminate government information. In other words, CTC can be a government service point for public service. Furthermore, if the network of CTC has been established, CTC can also be used as a voting center at the national election, or can act as census agent.

Benefit for others

CTC can be used as a place for training and consultation. CTC can be used as a center or facilitator for tele-education, long life learning center, tele-medicine, center of epidemic prevention and business information center for SME and micro businesses. Other parties from private or commercial sector can also use CTC to market their products or services to the community surrounding CTC, i.e.: fertilizer, insecticide, seeds for farmer; animal foods, animal vitamins for breeder, and others.

Experience in Early Stage of Implementation

MASTEL has decided to implement a pilot project of CTC in several locations. After surveying several location, the first location to be implemented is on a village near Bandung city in West Java province. The village of Cihideung, located in the hill of sub district Soreang first location to be implemented is on a village near Bandung city in West Java province. The village of Cihideung, located in the hill of sub district Soreang.

» The local community characteristics are as follows:

» Infrastructure:

» For the purpose of CTC, we evaluate every alternative of access as follows:

» Solution of infrastructure:

» Solution of Internet access:

» Content and application:

» Price: in addition to membership fee

Challenges:

To make the pilot project successful there are some challenges to face:

Conclusion