PRESIDENT TO LAUNCH PALAPA RING PROJECT

Jakarta, Oct 7 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to officially launch the physical construction of the Palapa Ring project on October 12, 2009.

Communication and Information Ministry spokesman Gatot S. Dewa Broto said here on Wednesday the president would declare the commencement of the project through a video conference between Jakarta and Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara.

"Through a video conference from the State Palace, President Yudhoyono will talk with Communication and Information Minister Muhammad Nuh at Krandangan village in Mataram where the Palapa Ring project is located," Gatot S. Dewa Broto said.

Gatot said in the video conference the president would use rural telecommunication facilities which are to be set up by the government under a Universal Service Obligation (USO) program to develop basic telecommunication in all rural areas across the country.

In the video conference, Communication and Information Minister Muhammad Nuh would report to the president about information and telecommunication access which has been made available at all villages in the provinces of Lampung, Banten, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Bali, and West Nusa Tenggara.

Gatot said the Palapa Ring project of PT Telekom was the backbone of fiber optic development which was initiated by the government and made up of 35,280 kilometers of marine cable and 21,708 kilometers of inland cable that together will form 7 giant rings around 33 provinces and 460 districts in the eastern part of Indonesia.

He said PT Telekom took the initiative to commence the Palapa Ring physical development of inland cable and submarine cable from Mataram in West Nusa Tenggara to Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of September next year.

According to Gatot, the Palapa Ring consortium would later set up the inland and submarine fiber optic segments starting from Manado, Ternate, Sorong, Ambon, Kendari, until Makassar.