PT. Palapa Timur Telematika (PTT) as the winner of the East Palapa Ring project, signed the East Palapa Ring project in the Presidential Palace, Friday (29/9/2016). The signing was carried out between Minister of Information Communication Rudiantara with PTT President Director Leon Kakisina and PTT Director Jimmy Kadir, and witnessed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo.

The Palapa Ring Timur project is a consortium of Moratelindo - IBS - Smart Telecom. The construction of this fiber optic network (infrastructure) will reach 35 cities in East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, West Papua to the interior of Papua, with a total fiber optic cable length of around 8,450 kilometers, and a bandwidth capacity of 80 Gbps. The construction of the East Palapa Ring fiber optic network will be carried out by sea by 80 percent and land by 20 percent, and will also be used microwave radio to connect cities with minimal infrastructure. The total budget for the work on this project is 5 trillion, and is targeted to be completed by the end of September 2018.

Eastern Indonesia has very rich natural resources, but because of the lack of telecommunications infrastructure in this region, it is lagging behind other regions such as the West and Central. The existence of this program is expected that eastern Indonesia can catch up with the development of telecommunications infrastructure, there is no longer a slow and expensive internet, and data connectivity needs can be met properly. It is hoped that this will also be a step in accelerating economic development and equity in all regions of Indonesia.