Internet Adoption of Indonesian Remote Society: Integrated Broadband Village Versus Commercial Mobile Broadband

Abstract

A free integrated broadband facility provision by the Indonesian Government in several remote villages seems has not been successfully narrowing down the digital divide.  To establish a solution, the gap that caused the problem needs to reveal.  Therefore, the current research was conducted with the aim of illustrating the efforts the Indonesian government has made those in term of narrowing down the digital divide, as well as the community feedback in term of how they adopt the internet.  Data was obtained from observations and discussions with the government officials and society in several purposive selected rural villages in Eastern Indonesia.  It is qualitatively analysed using the diffusion of innovation point of view.  The research result gives an overview that the facilities provided by Integrated Broadband Village (IBV) have not been welcomed enthusiasm, whereas the commercial mobile broadband (CMB) network services those are not free was more preferred due to the advantages in all phases of diffusion of innovations.  Unfortunately, CMB is not evenly available especially in areas with minimal population.  Besides, the efforts of local governments in developing community access are differing in degrees.