For the past year, COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered the way we learn, work, and communicate. For most of us, our daily interaction has become online. Video conferencing replace our physical interaction in a meeting, sending files through the internet has become common norm replacing regular file exchange, and streaming has become a habit. Daily communication and connectivity become more reliant to the internet and the changes most likely will stay for time to come, due to the longstanding of the pandemic and the social distancing rule. Challenges in infrastructure, bandwidth, and skills become more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic era, which highlight the gap between urban and rural area in Indonesia. This article seeks to revisit those challenges and attempt to provide solution to heal the widening gap of digital divide in Indonesia.
Digital Infrastructure to Skills Divide
Typically, digital divide is described as the gap between those who have access to digital technology and those who do not have. Van Dijk (2005) conceptualized this as the first level of digital divide, whereby researchers focus on the chasm of access to digital technology. As the chasm close with the availability of more affordable mobile and internet technology, researchers turn to the next level of digital divide, the gap in individuals’ skills (van Deursen and Helsper, 2015). In developed countries where ICT access is near universal, the digital divide takes on to the subsequent level, whereby internet access and skills have impact on individuals’ real life, for instance in education and work sectors (van Deursen et al., 2014, van Deursen and Helsper, 2015).
Infrastructure and skills are inextricably related. In any given country, internet infrastructure allows people to access the internet without constraints. Internet infrastructure is not only related to the availability of internet, but also the quality of the internet—be it broadband or mobile. Even in developed country like USA, the pandemic causes traffic to rise and in turn, stresses broadband network. Especially because subscription service experiences a surge during the pandemic, causing traffic to increase significantly (Woroch, 2021). In this case, the digital divide is separated between those who have higher internet access and have broadband network, and those who do not. While pandemic does make internet activity surge, there are still non-adopters who think that the internet is not “worth the cost” (Woroch, 2021).
As Indonesia is mobile first country, it is not surprising that fixed broadband penetration rate in Indonesia is only 3.92% (Statista, 2020). Mobile connection is significantly higher at 64% (Statista, 2020). It is also understandable that the quality of broadband speed is lower than global average, hailing at 27.83 Mbps compared to global average of 113.25 Mbps (Speedtest, 2021). The lower the broadband speed, the fewer device can be connected simultaneously. The speed of around 20 Mbps, for instance, can only accommodate two devices without quality loss. In a household of four with eight devices in total, the speed would be significantly lower if they all access simultaneously, more so if they use high bandwidth programs such as video conferencing.
The average internet speed in Indonesia shows significant difference between urban and rural cities. More populous cities such as Makassar, Jakarta, Bekasi, Tangerang, and Depok have higher internet speed compared to the more rural regions (Speedtest, 2021). In this case, information is more widespread in urban area compared to rural. Since COVID-19 information are mostly available online, this information is largely available to people with adequate internet access and who reside in the urban area. In this case, the government of Indonesia attempt to bridge the gap by building 36.000 km underwater fiber optic cable connecting 440 cities and districts in Indonesia (Kominfo, 2017). The challenge of the infrastructure is that underwater cable is prone to be damaged by natural disasters such as earthquake. Naturally, the easternmost of the archipelago is more disadvantaged at this.
Bridging the Gap of Digital Social Inequalities
The gap in physical access affects the population demographic as well. Younger people from ethnic majority and people with higher income, education, and better occupations have better access to internet while their more disadvantaged counterparts have less access (Woroch, 2021; van Dijk, 2021). The more accessible the internet is to them, the more frequent this part of the population can use it. Thus, it contributes to the difference in skills. Research from van Dijk (2021) also shows that differences in demographic also result in difference in internet usage. Social class, age, gender, and education matter in terms of accessing informational or educational internet contents and for entertainment purposes only. People of higher social status in general access work and education-enhancing content, while people of lower social status tend to access entertainment, e-commerce, and simple communication. At the end, the contents will not elevate the status of more disadvantaged groups but enhance the status of the groups with already-better standing. In this regard, indeed digital usage can reinforce existing social inequalities in society.
One thing that can be done to amend the widening gap is by massify the number of internet access available. In the USA, bills are made to ensure funds for broadband deployment and ensure that citizens can have affordable access, for instance by giving subsidy for low-income households to have broadband access and having digital inclusion activities (Woroch, 2021). Subsidies for low-income household to have devices like computers or laptop could help close the digital divide as the cost of broadband can be made more affordable and better access could be attained (Woroch, 2021).
While Palapa Ring—the government’s nationwide fiber optic network is still an ongoing project, local governments can provide mobile fixed broadband access using vans or buses. Providing mobile access is cheaper than establishing structural cable and is easier to move across districts. This way, access to quality network can be widespread and households don’t have to rely on low bandwidth that only adequate for several devices or even single smartphone connection. The buses or vans could be equipped with education about beneficial sites to enhance people’s understanding of healthcare, education, and work. In time, people across social status can access the information they need to elevate their status. People of low education can enrich their knowledge, and in time, technology can help them catch up with their counterparts. Providing more widespread structural access can also impact one’s occupation, connecting them with new jobs previously unavailable to them due to access or education constraints. Encouraging people from the older age group, ethnic minority, and from rural areas to make use of the mobile internet access would be the utmost necessity, since they are prone to be left behind and could widen the digital inequalities.
In conclusion, researchers have conceptualized that there are three levels of digital gaps. The first is physical access, the second is skills access, and the last is digital to real-life gap. All the levels are related, with physical access impact the level of skills one possesses, and how it could affect one’s standing in society. Addressing the digital gap is, therefore, should be from the root. First, one must acknowledge that the gap is caused by disparate physical access to quality internet. Addressing the quality internet problem by massifying internet vans or buses in districts and rural areas is necessary to provide access to more groups of people. Education about sites that provide values can also be more widespread with the availability of internet vans and buses. In time, with digital skills increased, social inequalities can eventually be closed.
In times of the pandemic, it is not only enough to encourage more online presence. Without quality access, all the levels of digital gaps cannot be adequately addressed.
Resources:
Indonesia’s Mobile and Broadband Internet Speeds – Speedtest Global Index. (2021). Retrieved 18 November 2021, from https://www.speedtest.net/global-index/indonesia
Fixed broadband penetration in Indonesia 2001-2020. (2021). Retrieved 18 November 2021, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/517739/fixed-broadband-subscriptions-per-100-inhabitants-in-indonesia/
Pemerintah ungkap tantangan pembangunan infrastruktur internet. (2017). Retrieved 18 November 2021, from https://kominfo.go.id/content/detail/12182/pemerintah-ungkap-tantangan-pembangunan-infrastruktur-internet/0/sorotan_media
van Deursen, A., & Helsper, E. (2015). A nuanced understanding of Internet use and non-use among the elderly. European Journal Of Communication, 30(2), 171-187. doi: 10.1177/0267323115578059
Van Dijk, J. A. G. M. (2005). The deepening divide: Inequality in the information society. London, UK: Sage.
van Dijk, J. (2021). Closing the Digital Divide. Retrieved 18 November 2021, from https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2020/07/Closing-the-Digital-Divide-by-Jan-A.G.M-van-Dijk-.pdf
Woroch, G. (2021). Connectivity and the Coronavirus.