Sumber : Kontan.co.id | 8 Juni 2024

The Indonesian Telecommunications Providers Association (ATSI) has opened its voice regarding the statement by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menkomarves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan who said that the presence of Elon Musk's internet service in Indonesia, namely Starlink, means that Base Transceiver Station (BTS) towers are no longer needed. .

Menurut Sekretaris Jenderal ATSI, Marwan O. Baasir, wajar jika keberadaan Starlink akan mempengaruhi dinamika industri telekomunikasi di Indonesia.

"Because of this, the government must be able to make arrangements by prioritizing the implementation of the same equal playing field as telecommunications service providers that already exist in the country," said Marwan to Kontan, Friday (7/6).

Then, related to the existence of BTS towers, it is hoped that Starlink's presence can be a support in remote areas or 3T areas as well as in other areas where geographically it is difficult to build terrestrial networks.

"So that these remote regions or areas can utilize Starlink services and there is no need to build BTS which requires expensive investment costs and is also a geographical challenge to build," he added.

Sementara, untuk di wilayah perkotaan atau non 3T keberadaan menara-menara BTS 2G, 4G, 5G, dan beyond diperlukan untuk menjaga keberlangsungan layanan seluler/telko yang sudah ada dan mendukung transformasi digital ekonomi nasional termasuk untuk industri 4.0.

Ia kemudian menjelaskan, equal playing field yang dituntut disediakan pemerintah bisa dilihat dari berbagai sudut pandang.

"The first is compliance, the obligations that must be fulfilled by Starlink as a telecommunications provider, such as compliance with BHP payments, tariff regulations, handling illegal content, as well as the obligation to cooperate with other providers in the telecommunications regulatory regime in Indonesia," said Marwan.

Di sisi lain pertimbangannya adalah kemudahan penetrasi cakupan wilayah dilihat dari sudut pandang kemudahan penggelaran jaringan, sehingga antara penyelenggara dapat berkompetisi dengan baik dalam mengirim layanan.

"Then, in terms of coverage, satellite providers are able to reach rural areas easily and quickly, so that their services can be focused on these areas so that their nature is a complementary proposition or there are special criteria that can be determined by prioritizing terrestrial Telko operators when providing terrestrial (non-terrestrial) services satellite) can still reach the area, especially economically it is still supported," he said.

Menurut Marwan, hal di atas perlu diperhatikan oleh regulator, untuk dapat menjaga kompetisi antara pemain existing dan pemain yang baru.

"Then, in terms of cellular technology, our licensing structure, satellite providers can have mobile capabilities and licenses, so this needs to get more attention," he said.

He also said that the cooperation scheme with cellular providers could be reviewed by the government in determining policies related to Starlink. "So Starlink does not need to be allocated its own direct to cell frequency because this will threaten competition," he concluded.