RI`s cellular phone subscribers grow 51 pct

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The number of cellular phone subscribers in Indonesia in 2007 rose 51 percent to 96.41 million from a year earlier, a minister said.

"The increase in the number of cellular phone and FWA (fixed wireless access) subscribers indicates that Indonesia has made remarkable achievement in catching up with other countries in the field of information and communication technology (ICT)," Communication and Information Minister Muhammad Nuh said at the launching of Indonesia ICT Outlook 2008 here Thursday.

The number of fixed wireless access and fixed phone subscribers increased to 11 million and 8.7 million respectively, he said.

The number of computer owners also rose to 2.5 million in 2007 from 1.8 million the year before, he said.

He said the number of registered Internet service users rose to 25 million in late last year from 20 million in 2006.

"It is for the first time the government officially launched the Indonesia ICT Outlook to know exactly the extent to which ICT has contributed to the country`s economic growth. The Indonesia ICT Outlook also serves as guidance for stakeholders to determine the direction of their business policies in the future," he said.

The ability to master ICT was a prerequisite to create an Indonesian community capable of boosting the economy and improving the people`s welfare, he said.

Hopefully, the Indonesia ICT Outlook would serve as an input for the global ICT rating agency to rank Indonesia, he said.

"For the umpteenth time Indonesia has been put in the lowest rank. Where did they obtain the data to do that?" he asked.

But more importantly, the Indonesia ICT Outlook 2008 was part of the government`s efforts to boost economic growth which would in the end improve the people`s welfare and reduce the number of jobless people, he said.