Indonesia is undertaking two major projects to improve its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure, an Indonesian official said here Tuesday.

To enable more Indonesians to have access to the ICT service, the government is currently carrying out two major projects in the country -- Universal Service Obligations (USO) Program and National Fiber Optic Backbone (NFOB) Project, said Vice Chairmen of Indonesian Information Technology (IT) Committee Benny Ranti, who is here attending the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-China ICT Business Forum.

Under the USO Program scheduled for implementation from 2003 to 2010, the government hopes to provide telephone access for all villages in Indonesia by the year 2010, Benny said.

Of all 66,778 villages across Indonesia, 43,022 have no telephone access, he said, noting all those remote and rural villages will be equipped with at least one telephone line under the program.

The NFOB Project is scheduled to complete a preliminary study in 2006, a roadmap design and master plan in 2006-2007, and installation of the fiber optical ring from 2008 to 2020, said Benny.

The total cost of the NFOB Project is approximately 1.6 billion U.S. dollars, of which 1.06 billion is expected to come from the private sector, he said.

As the ICT infrastructure plays an important role in Indonesia's general economic development and country competitiveness, just like the situation in other developing countries, the government, together with ICT operators and providers, should continue to expand and modernize the ICT network in the country, he added.

Major companies, research institutions and associations involved in the ICT industry from China and member countries of the ASEAN sent representatives to attend the business forum which opened Tuesday in George Town, capital city of Penang state in northern Malaysia.

The two-day forum is part of the second ASEAN-China ICT Week, which is themed "Strategic Regional ICT cooperation for Growth and Prosperity."

Source: Xinhua