Connecting an archipelago: Exploring Indonesia’s Internet ahead of APRICOT 2026

A recent workshop co-hosted by IDNOG and APNIC Academy sought to improve awareness and increase practical skills in IPv6 deployment in Indonesia.

Outlined in the 2026 Activity Plan, the APNIC Blog is featuring an ongoing series of posts highlighting economies across the Asia Pacific region. These articles, available via the 'Economy Report ' tag, will explore each economy's Internet infrastructure, along with its challenges and achievements in capacity development, security, resilience, and community building.

As we count down to APRICOT 2026 in Jakarta, Indonesia, we take a closer look at the Internet operations of the host economy. Indonesia is South East Asia's largest economy and one of the most significant digital markets in the Asia Pacific region.

Home to a population of over 280 million people, Indonesia's scale presents substantial opportunities for digital growth while also amplifying the complexity of achieving inclusive and resilient Internet access across the economy. As an archipelagic nation comprising thousands of islands, Indonesia's geography fundamentally shapes the development of its Internet ecosystem, influencing infrastructure deployment, service quality, and access equity nationwide.

The Government of Indonesia has identified digital transformation as a strategic pillar for national economic growth and competitiveness. Through coordinated policy initiatives led by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), digital technologies are being positioned as enablers for productivity, innovation, and improved public service delivery across sectors such as commerce, finance, education, and government services.

Initiatives such as Making Indonesia 4.0 andDigital Nusantara have prioritized digital services and technology adoption across sectors, including e-commerce, finance, and public services, to strengthen productivity and improve public service delivery.

Longer-term policy direction is guided by the National Strategy for Developing Indonesia's Digital Economy Development 2030, which outlines phased digital transformation priorities, including broadband expansion, digital platforms, and human capital development, to support inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Despite strong momentum, structural disparities remain evident. While major urban and economic centres such as Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung benefit from comparatively advanced Internet infrastructure and robust private sector investment, many remote and eastern regions continue to face limitations in access quality, affordability, and network resilience. Bridging these gaps has been identified as a central policy objective, with a strong emphasis on digital inclusion and equitable development.

Indonesia's Internet ecosystem is therefore characterized by rapid digital expansion alongside ongoing efforts to ensure that growth is inclusive, resilient, and geographically balanced. Continued public-private investment, coordinated national planning, and cross-sector collaboration will be critical in shaping the economy's digital trajectory in the years ahead.

Connectivity

According to ITU's DataHub statistics for Indonesia, Internet use has risen rapidly over the last decade. As of 2024, ITU Data Hub reports that 72.8% of Indonesia's population used the Internet within the previous three months (consequently, about 27.2% of the population remains offline).

Indonesia's Internet penetration has continued its upward trajectory, with the Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia (APJII - Local host of APRICOT 2026) reporting that the number of Internet users reached approximately 229.4 million people in 2025, equivalent to 80.66% Internet penetration of the total population of 284.4 million based on the 2025 Indonesian Internet Profile survey.

These APJII figures complement ITU DataHub indicators that show Internet use increasing over time, with mobile broadband remaining the dominant mode of access, reflecting Indonesia's mobile-first connectivity context as infrastructure continues to scale.

Mobile network availability in Indonesia is strong. According to Internet Society Pulse, 98% of users have access to at least one device with 4G mobile Internet, underscoring the extensive reach of modern mobile networks across major islands and population centres. However, 5G availability remains emerging at 26%, with coverage concentrated in urban areas and early deployment phases as operators balance commercial rollouts with infrastructure investment priorities.

Internet Society Pulse data indicates that in 2025, the average download speeds were 43.18 Mbps for fixed broadband connections and 50.77 Mbps for mobile networks.

Internet Society Pulse data also underscores the urban-rural digital divide. Urban Internet usage rates (74%) exceeded rural rates (56%) as of 2022, reflecting persistent challenges in extending high-quality connectivity to more remote islands and hinterland communities.

Internet and mobile data are not as affordable in Indonesia. ITU data shows that a basic package (70 minutes of calls, 50 texts, and 1GB of data) costs about 1.32% of the average person's income. Many digital inclusion frameworks say it should cost no more than 1% to be considered affordable. This means mobile broadband may still be too expensive for many people in Indonesia.

Internet community

Indonesia has a large and active Internet community that plays an important role in supporting the development, resilience, and operational maturity of the economy's Internet ecosystem. This community spans network operators, technical practitioners, academic institutions, policymakers, and civil society groups, reflecting Indonesia's scale and diversity.

Indonesia's Internet number resource management is coordinated through IDNIC, the National Internet Registry (NIR), which supports the allocation and administration of Internet number resources at the national level. IDNIC plays an important role in liaising with network operators and the regional Internet registry community, helping to promote effective use of IP addresses and Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs) in Indonesia.

Industry associations such as the Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia (APJII) play a complementary role by representing ISPs and contributing data, analysis, and industry perspectives to national policy discussions. APJII's regular surveys and engagement with regulators help inform decisions related to connectivity expansion, affordability, and market development.

The Indonesia Network Operators Group (IDNOG) serves as a central platform for technical collaboration and knowledge exchange among network operators and engineers. Through regular meetings, workshops, and operational discussions, IDNOG supports capacity building on topics such as routing, network security, and best practices for Internet operations. These activities contribute to strengthening day-to-day network management and fostering peer learning across the operator community.

Indonesia also participates actively in Internet governance dialogues through the Indonesia Internet Governance Forum (ID-IGF), which provides a multistakeholder space for discussion on policy, security, access, and digital inclusion issues. The forum brings together government representatives, the private sector, technical experts, and civil society, supporting inclusive dialogue aligned with regional and global Internet governance processes.

Collectively, Indonesia's Internet community provides an essential foundation for the continued evolution of the economy's Internet infrastructure. Ongoing collaboration between operators, policymakers, and regional organizations remains critical to addressing technical challenges, supporting secure network growth, and ensuring that Indonesia's Internet development is inclusive and sustainable.

Internet infrastructure

IXPs

Indonesia has an active and growing ecosystem of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), which play a foundational role in routing local Internet traffic efficiently and keeping domestic traffic within the economy.

According to the Internet Society Pulse's IXP Tracker, there are 56 active IXPs in Indonesia, with a combined total of 1,225 members as of January 2026. IXPs are present in 17 of the 45 population centres. These IXPs enable local peering and help improve performance and reduce costs for traffic exchanged between domestic networks.

IXPs in Indonesia include the Jakarta Internet Exchange (JKT-IX), Indonesia Internet Exchange (IIX-Jakarta), the National Inter Connection Exchange (NiCE), OpenIXP/NiCE, and several Biznet Internet Exchange (BIX) locations in Jakarta and other cities. New developments, such as DE-CIX entering Indonesia and building a distributed exchange network in Jakarta, show that there is rising demand for reliable, high-quality interconnection and stronger links with the wider South East Asian peering ecosystem.

Indonesia's multi-operator IXP landscape supports a more resilient Internet infrastructure by enabling diverse routing paths and efficient traffic exchange within and between regional network clusters.

Data centres and CDNs

Indonesia's data centre market has expanded significantly in recent years to support the digital economy, cloud services, and edge computing demand. According to Internet Society Pulse data, Indonesia has around 198 active data centres as of the latest 2026 insights, reflecting robust investment from both local and international providers in co-locations and hyperscale facilities.

Major infrastructure players, including domestic operators like Telkom Indonesia, as well as global firms such as NTT Global Data Centres, DCI Indonesia, and Biznet Data Centre have established significant footprints in Jakarta and other larger population hubs to support cloud on-ramps and enterprise. These data centres underpin critical digital services, from cloud hosting and content delivery to enterprise applications and disaster recovery, and form key hubs for local traffic aggregation and interconnection.

Content Delivery Network (CDN) operators, ranging from global platforms to local caching providers, play a key role in improving the performance of high-traffic online services such as video streaming and e-commerce in Indonesia.

The CDN market is growing quickly, with a reported 17.8% yearly growth rate and rising demand from the booming e-commerce and fintech industries. Major global players such as CDNetworks, Cloudflare, CloudFront, and EdgeNext have set up Points of Presence (PoPs) in cities like Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, and Surabaya to reduce delays and speed up content delivery. Local providers, including Telkom Indonesia and services like CDNusantara, also improve performance through secure, high-speed delivery using their own PoPs. This rapid growth is further supported by increasing Internet use, more digital-savvy consumers, and government programs encouraging digital adoption, all of which drive demand for reliable and scalable content delivery.

Submarine cables

As an archipelago with diverse geography, Indonesia's international and regional connectivity depends heavily on a dense and diverse submarine cable infrastructure. Multiple submarine systems land on Indonesian shores, linking the economy to major regional hubs including Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and beyond.

Key cable systems connected to Indonesia include long-haul links such as the Australia-Singapore Cable (ASC) and global networks like SeaMeWe-5, which provide capacity and connectivity across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

Other systems, such as the Matrix Cable System connecting Jakarta and Batam to Singapore, and the Thailand-Indonesia-Singapore (TIS) cable, illustrate regional connectivity efforts for traffic exchange across South East Asia.

According to this OECD report, Indonesia's role as both a landing point and a transit node reflects its strategic position in undersea network topology. Consistent expansion of submarine cable infrastructure supports increasing international bandwidth demand, reduces latency for cross-border traffic, and strengthens resilience against individual cable faults, a key consideration given the archipelagic nature of the economy and reliance on marine routes for data flows.

IPv6

According to APNIC Lab data, IPv6 capability in Indonesia is currently at 18.4%, indicating that while IPv6 is no longer negligible, most Indonesian Internet users still rely primarily on IPv4.

APNIC Labs trend data shows gradual, uneven growth rather than rapid acceleration. As Figure 2 shows, adoption has increased, but the curve remains relatively shallow. This suggests incremental deployment by operators, rather than large-scale, coordinated rollouts across the economy.

From a technology perspective, the measurements imply that IPv6 is largely deployed alongside IPv4, not as a replacement. Dual-stack remains the dominant model where IPv6 is available, and there is no evidence of widespread IPv6-only access at scale. As a result, IPv4 continues to underpin most consumer connectivity.

In regional terms, Indonesia's IPv6 deployment lags behind other regional economies, particularly those where mobile operators have driven IPv6. While Indonesia shows steady improvement, the gap suggests that IPv6 has not yet become a strategic priority across the broader ISP landscape.

Overall, the APNIC Labs data suggests Indonesia is in a transitional phase: IPv6 is established, growing, and operationally proven, but still far from ubiquitous. The next step change will likely depend on stronger incentives for access providers, particularly large mobile and broadband networks, to move from partial deployment to IPv6 as a default capability for end users.

RPKI

Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) deployment in Indonesia has gained notable momentum in recent years as part of efforts to improve routing security and mitigate common BGP vulnerabilities.

Recently, Route Origin Authorization (ROA) coverage in Indonesia increased dramatically from roughly 66% to over 90% within a short period, one of the most significant gains in South East Asia, demonstrating active engagement by Indonesian network operators in securing prefix origin authorization.

While ROA coverage has surged, Route Origin Validation (ROV) adoption, where networks enforce route origin checks and drop invalid announcements, is still in its early stages.

Figure 4 shows that approximately 22% of Indonesian networks are performing ROV and dropping invalid prefixes, indicating progress but also room for broader operational adoption of routing validation practices.

The combination of high ROA creation and growing ROV enforcement demonstrates a maturing focus on routing security within Indonesia's operational community. Continued engagement, technical training, and best-practice adoption, including support from organizations such as MANRS and APNIC, are expected to further enhance routing security, reduce the risk of route hijacks, and strengthen overall Internet stability.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity has become an increasingly prominent focus within Indonesia's Internet ecosystem as digital services continue to expand. The government has strengthened its institutional and regulatory frameworks to address cyber risks, protect critical infrastructure, and improve national cyber resilience.

The National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) serves as Indonesia's central authority for cybersecurity and cryptography. BSSN is responsible for coordinating national cyber defence efforts, developing security standards, and responding to cyber incidents affecting government systems and critical infrastructure. BSSN plays a key role in monitoring threats, issuing alerts, and supporting incident response across sectors. IDSIRTII actively participates in regional and global communities through APCERT, OIC-CERT and FIRST.

The road ahead

Indonesia's Internet ecosystem is entering a phase where scale must be matched by resilience, security, and inclusivity. Continued investment in national broadband infrastructure, fibre networks and data centres will be essential to meet growing demand from the digital economy.

Closing persistent geographical and demographic gaps remains a priority. While mobile networks have enabled widespread access, variations in service quality, fixed broadband availability, and digital skills across regions highlight the need for targeted infrastructure expansion and complementary digital inclusion initiatives, particularly in remote areas.

From a technical perspective, advancing IPv6 deployment and strengthening routing security will be critical to sustaining long-term Internet growth, supporting network scalability, and improving overall resilience as traffic volumes and service complexity increase.

Sustained progress will ultimately depend on strong multistakeholder collaboration. Continued engagement between government agencies, network operators, the technical community, industry associations, and regional organizations will play a vital role in strengthening Indonesia's Internet ecosystem and ensuring that digital transformation delivers broad social and economic benefits.

The views expressed by the authors of this blog are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of APNIC. Please note a Code of Conduct applies to this blog.