• Sitaro officials and Kemkomdigi agreed to pursue a Palapa Ring Tengah reroute through Ulu, Tagulandang and Bitung or Likupang
  • The agreement changes the planned backbone alignment, while detailed engineering, construction and commissioning dates have not been disclosed

The fact

Officials from Indonesia's Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs and the Siau Tagulandang Biaro Islands Regency agreed on 2 September to pursue a revised route for part of the Palapa Ring Tengah backbone. The proposed alignment would run through Ulu, Tagulandang and Bitung or Likupang instead of the Manado–Ondong Siau route discussed previously.

The Sitaro government said the change is intended to improve connectivity across the island regency. The meeting also covered remaining telecoms blank spots, including proposals for new base stations and additional BAKTI satellite access. The report did not give a final engineering design, project cost, construction timetable or commissioning date.

The assessment

Routing Palapa Ring Tengah through Tagulandang could bring the national backbone closer to local networks, but it would not improve service on its own. The published plan does not yet say where interconnection points would be built or how operators would connect local networks to the new route.

Communities that still lack service would also need base stations, satellite links or other access infrastructure. If those connections are not built alongside the backbone, some blank spots could remain even after the new route is completed. For BTW readers, the 2 September agreement changes the network plan rather than the service available today. The useful evidence will come when the route, interconnection points and local access links are defined, built and activated.

What to watch

Watch for the final route, funding, procurement and construction timetable for the Ulu–Tagulandang–Bitung/Likupang alignment. Details of interconnection points will show how local networks are expected to reach the backbone. Commissioning of both the backbone route and the associated access infrastructure would provide clearer evidence of whether connectivity in Sitaro has improved.