Indonesia Country Information
- Indonesia is a country consisting of 17,508 islands from the East to the West and lies between Asia and Australia.
- It shares borders with Malaysia on Borneo Island, East Timor on Timor Island and Papua New Guinea on Papua Island.
- Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Palau and India(Andaman and Nicobar).
- Indonesia has a population of about 242.32 million people and a territory of 1,904,569 sq. km, with a density of 134 per sq. km2.
- The territory of Indonesia stretches from 6o 08’ N to 11o 15’ S latitude and from 94o 45’ E to 141o 05’ E longitude.
- Weather and climate in Indonesia are linked to the country’s proximity to the Equator, making Indonesia a tropical climate country where, in general, the weather is hot and humid.
- Indonesia’s climate is divided into two distinct seasons: dry and rainy seasons.
- The rainy season goes from October to April and the dry season starts in March and ends in September.
Indonesian Economy:
- Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) moderated to 5.8% in 2013 from an average of 6.3% over the previous 3 years, as investment decelerated sharply.
- Bank Indonesia, the central bank, raised interest rates to restrain domestic demand at a time of rising inflation and a widening current account deficit.
- Growth in fixed investment slowed to 4.7% in 2013 after strong increases of about 9% annually in 2010-2012.
- This largely reflected the impact higher interest rates and rupiah depreciation had on investment in machinery and equipment.
- Investment in buildings held up relatively well.
- The central government’s capital spending moderated, though it still expanded by 18.4%. Gross fixed investment as a share of GDP edged down to 31.7%.
- Private consumption remained robust in 2013, expanding by 5.3% and contributing half of the growth in GDP on the expenditure side.
Telecommunications in Indonesia
Subscriber and Penetration
- With 278 million subscribers, Indonesia is the 4th largest mobile market in the world.
- It is also in the world’s top ten 3G markets, with broadband users skipping fixed connections and going straight to mobile (just as they did before with voice telephony).
- The rapid move to smartphones means the mobile operators are also key players in the internet sector, though note that 2.5G mobile technology is still remarkably widespread.
- Fixed broadband lines only feature at the top of the market, targeted at businesses and high-end consumers.
