Palapa Ring (11)

Now, Palapa Ring consortium consists of only three telcos : XL/Excelcomindo has recently left, due to significant loss last year. It was a bit surprising, since XL is the third largest telco, which owns significant fiber infrastructure across the country. Previously, Powertek and Infokom Elektrindo have also cancelled their commitment for Palapa Ring project. Check for the entire story here.


Without new arrangements, the consortium would have only USD 120 mn left for the entire project. It could mean that the overall system shall be shorter and some landing candidates are removed from the list. To my guess, at this budget figure, the total system length would be around 1,500 - 2,000 km in total (or less at current price) with around 10 landing points (or less, depending on what kind of landing facilities to be installed). And I'm afraid, it wouldn't sufficient for a ring! Such a distance is comparable to the distance of Jakarta, Singapore and going back to Jakarta. Already guessed my point ? .. Yupe, without additional budget, Palapa Ring would be better to be changed to "Palapa Bus" or "Palapa Fishbone" :-D. What do you think? :-D