Harapan tak Ada Diskriminasi Internet hingga Pelosok, Bantu Petani Kubar-Mahulu Belajar via Webinar

TRIBUNKALTIM.CO - Internet menjadi salah satu kebutuhan bagi Christine, perempuan asli Kampung Linggang Melapeh, Kabupaten Kutai Barat (Kubar), Provinsi Kalimantan Timur (Kaltim).

Ketersediaan internet membantu pekerjaannya sebagai staf NGO, baik untuk berkomunikasi dengan kantor pusat di Jakarta begitu juga dengan aktivitasnya mendampingi masyarakat petani di dua kabupaten sekaligus yakni Kubar dan Mahakam Ulu (Mahulu).

Kubar dan Mahulu termasuk dua wilayah yang punya tantangan geografis tersendiri, ongkos untuk mengunjungi dua wilayah di Kaltim ini bisa lebih mahal dibandingkan ke luar pulau seperti Jawa dan Bali.

Inilah yang membuat internet menjadi salah satu upaya untuk tetap terkoneksi tanpa harus bepergian. 

Kebutuhan akan internet juga tidak melulu untuk pekerjaan, termasuk juga untuk membantu hal-hal sepele dalam kehidupannya, termasuk mendapatkan hiburan lewat YouTube maupun streaming film bahkan belanja. 

Baca juga: Tingkatkan Kualitas Jaringan Internet di Mahulu, Diskominfostandi Beberkan Kendala yang Dihadapi

Perempuan yang menamatkan pendidikan S1-nya di Universitas Sanata Dharma Yogyakarta ini cukup tahu bagaimana perbedaan internet di pulau Jawa dan Kalimantan terlebih di kampungnya. 

Namun, perbedaan yang mencolok itu menurut Christine dialaminya 5-6 tahun lalu ketika dia masih kuliah.

Kondisi sekarang sudah banyak berubah meski juga belum sepenuhnya lancar.

Akses menuju Kubar dan Mahulu yang termasuk daerah 3T yakni Tertinggal Terluar dan Terdepan di Kaltim tidak mudah.

Dari Samarinda, ibukota provinsi Kaltim ke Kubar dan Mahulu bisa lewat jalur darat ataupun sungai menyusuri Sungai Mahakam.

Tantangan soal transportasi ke Kubar dan Mahulu adalah jarak yang tentunya berdampak juga pada waktu tempuh dan biaya yang harus dikeluarkan. 

Jalur sungai ada dua pilihan yakni speedboat atau kapal penumpang. 

"Kalau naik speedboat 6 jam. Naik kapal berangkat jam 7 malam, kalau airnya pas bagus jam 5 pagi besok sampai di Melak," katanya.

Melak adalah salah satu kecamatan di Kubar dari Melak ke Sendawar, ibu kota Kubar sekitar 30 menit.

Sementara untuk jalur darat perkiraan antara 10-14 jam.

"Ini baru sampai ke Kubar. Kalau ke Mahulu masih tambah lagi perjalanan, nyebrang dari Tering lewat sungai. Itu ongkosnya bisa lebih mahal dari ke Bali," katanya.  

Berbagai tantangan ini, internet dirasakan menjadi penghubung dengan dunia luar.

Internet menjadi medium yang efektif untuk kampanye dan pendampingan masyarakat. 

Beruntung NGO tempatnya bekerja mempunyai kantor juga di Kubar yang menyediakan internet rumahan.

"Meski di Mahulu tidak ada kantor, tapi di rumah-rumah mitra tersedia juga akses internet rumahan dengan kualitas yang baik," katanya. 

Internet banyak membantu untuk kampanye lewat media sosial misalnya.

"Biasanya untuk teman-teman muda, kami selalu memotivasi supaya diunggah di medsos yang dimiliki," katanya.

Jika medsos menjadi medium di kalangan muda, berbeda untuk kalangan yang lebih senior.

"Internet ini membantu banget untuk narasumber dari Jawa. Tidak semua narasumber bisa travelling ke sini, karena waktu kan lama, nah bisa lewat webinar atau zoom.

Jadi bapak-bapak dan ibu-ibu di sini tetap bisa berdiskusi dengan internet ini," katanya.

Para petani dampingan ini bisa berkumpul di rumah mitra atau kantor untuk bersama-sama mengikuti webinar atau zoom.

"Mereka sudah terbiasa itu," katanya. 

Menurut Christine, dengan webinar atau zoom, selain mengurangi pendanaan juga bisa menjadi solusi.

"Kan tidak semua narasumber punya waktu banyak, karena ke sini juga waktunya lama," katanya.

Masyarakat di Kubar dan Mahulu menurut Christine sudah melek dengan internet, hanya memang sinyalnya belum begitu baik dan merata.

"Sinyalnya ada, 4G tapi nggak ke kirim-kirim gitu," katanya.

Bahkan ia pernah mengalami terlambat mengirim laporan karena kondisi internet yang buruk ketika berada di Mahulu.

Baca juga: Masyarakat Mahulu Masih Terkendala Akses Internet, Ini Tanggapan Diskominfo Markus Wan

Akhirnya laporan baru bisa dikirim ketika ia sudah mendapatkan sinyal yang lebih baik.

"Untungnya ya sudah maklum dengan kondisi kita di sini. Cuma yang kadang kita nggak enak juga," katanya.

Masyarakat juga selalu berupaya untuk mendapatkan internet yang lebih baik.

Di sejumlah grup medsos wilayah Kubar dan Mahulu, ada yang berjualan paket Starlink yang kabarnya cukup cocok untuk daerah pedesaan.

Meski belum pernah memakai, namun Christine juga tahu soal Starlink.

"Ada bapak-bapak yang bilang mau pakai Starlink buat di kebun. Karena kalau di kebun kan lebih susah internetnya," kata Christine lagi.

Di luar pekerjaannya, Christine pun menjadikan internet untuk mencari hiburan baik YouTube maupun nonton streaming.

Selain itu juga belanja. 

"Kadang kan mikirnya haduh ke Samarinda cuma buat beli itu doang, jadi ya sudah belanja aja lewat e-commerce," katanya.

Meski harus membayar ongkos kirim, namun menurut Christine biaya yang dikeluarkan masih lebih murah ketimbang harus pergi ke Samarinda.

"Internet ya memudahkan dan sangat membantu," katanya. 

Bagi Christine, internet bisa membantu banyak orang dari berbagai latar belakang.

"Mau pakai kartu data, internet rumahan maupun Starlink atau apapun.

 Harapannya, jangan ada diskriminasi ketersediaan internet sampai pelosok," katanya.

Perluas Fiber Optik untuk Perbaiki Kualitas Internet di Daerah Terpencil

Kepala Dinas Komunikasi, Informatika, Statistik, dan Persandian (Diskominfostandi) Kabupaten Mahakam Ulu (Mahulu), Markus Wan mengungkapkan, upaya pengadaan internet di wilayah Mahulu terus berjalan meski masih menghadapi sejumlah kendala.

Ia menyampaikan bahwa pemerintah daerah telah bekerja sama dengan Telkom untuk meningkatkan kualitas jaringan internet di seluruh organisasi perangkat daerah (OPD) dan fasilitas publik, seperti puskesmas dan kantor pemerintahan kampung.

"Untuk saat ini kami di Kominfo sudah berusaha semaksimal mungkin untuk pengadaan internet di semua OPD, termasuk di semua fasilitas kampung seperti puskesmas, kantor petinggi, dan lain-lain.

Nah, itu sudah kita lakukan kerja sama dengan Telkom," ujarnya.

Sejak awal tahun ini, Diskominfostandi terus memantau perkembangan kualitas jaringan yang ada.

Ia pun menekankan akan pentingnya kesinambungan dalam peningkatan layanan.

"Tahun ini, sejak awal tahun tadi, kalau ini bagus kita akan berlanjut terus. Sehingga saat ini untuk jaringan kita sudah mulai bagus, internet kita juga sudah mulai bagus.

Di kantor bupati juga sudah kita pasang internet kita, sehingga kantor baru juga sudah siap menggunakan internet kita yang berjasama dengan Telkom," jelasnya. 

Diskominfostandi telah melakukan pemerataan kecepatan internet di seluruh OPD dengan membagi bandwith secara merata,  setiap OPD mendapatkan kecepatan 20 Mbps.

Namun, ia menambahkan abhwa ketika ada kegiatan daring seperti rapat Zoom, pihaknya siap menaikkan kapasitas bandwidth untuk kelancaran acara.

"Jadi MBPS yang ada itu kita bagi rata, jadi semua OPD itu masing-masing mendapat 20 Mbps. 

Tapi pada saat ada Zoom atau kegiatan lain, apabila ada pemberitahuan kepada kami, baik tertulis maupun lisan, kami bisa menaikkan bandwidth-nya lagi," lanjutnya.

Meski demikian, ia mengakui bahwa masalah sinyal tidak hanya terjadi di Mahulu, tetapi juga di beberapa kota besar.

"Ya, terus terang sampai saat ini, jangankan di Mahulu ya, saya lihat juga di kota-kota besar itu ada juga yang masih tidak ada sinyal.

Nah, di Mahulu ini untuk saat ini sebenarnya tidak ada lagi yang blank spot," katanya.

Pada tahun 2021, Pemkab Mahulu bersama DPR telah mengajukan permohonan kepada Badan Aksesibilitas Telekomunikasi dan Informasi (BAKTI) Kominfo untuk membangun 20 tower di wilayah yang dulunya merupakan daerah blank spot. 

Meskipun tower sudah terbangun, layanan yang tersedia di beberapa lokasi belum memuaskan.

"Towernya sudah terbangun, tetapi kualitas layanannya sangat tidak bagus. 4G-nya bagus, tetapi begitu masyarakat mau pakai, mereka sangat terganggu," tambahnya.

Kritik ini menjadi sorotan karena masyarakat mengeluhkan adanya jaringan 4G yang tidak dapat digunakan dengan optimal. 

Diskominfostandi pun terus berupaya agar Bakti Kominfo memperbaiki masalah ini.

"Kami mohon kepada Bakti Kominfo untuk dapat melihat tower-tower Tri Angel yang sudah dibangun ini.

Terutama kapasitas layanannya, kemudian kebersihannya, dan petugas yang bertanggung jawab di sana," pintanya. 

Ia juga menegaskan bahwa jaringan internet sangat penting bagi masyarakat Mahulu, terutama di era digital seperti saat ini, sehingga perbaikan layanan menjadi prioritas utama.

Baca juga: Hadirkan Internet Cepat di Mahulu, Bonifasius Belawan Geh Dorong ke Pelayanan Publik

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English Translation

Hope for No Internet Discrimination in Remote Areas, Help Kubar-Mahulu Farmers Learn via Webinar

The Internet has become a necessity for Christine, a woman from Kampung Linggang Melapeh, West Kutai Regency (Kubar), East Kalimantan Province.

The availability of the Internet helps her work as an NGO staff member, both to communicate with the head office in Jakarta and to assist farming communities in two districts, Kubar and Mahakam Ulu (Mahulu).

Kubar and Mahulu are geographically challenging areas, and traveling to these two areas in East Kalimantan can be more expensive than to other islands such as Java and Bali.

This obstacle makes the internet one of the ways to stay connected without having to travel. 

The need for the internet is not only for work but also to help with trivial things in life, including getting entertainment through YouTube or streaming films and even shopping. 

Christine, who completed her bachelor's degree at Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta, knows the difference between the internet in Java and Kalimantan, especially in her village. 

However, according to Christine, the striking difference was experienced 5-6 years ago when she was still in college.

Conditions have now changed a lot, even though they are not completely smooth.

Access to Kubar and Mahulu, which are among the 3T areas in East Kalimantan, takes work.

From Samarinda, the capital of East Kalimantan, to Kubar and Mahulu, you can travel by road or river along the Mahakam River.

The challenge of traveling to Kubar and Mahulu is the distance, which of course, also impacts the time and costs involved.  

The river route has two options, namely speedboats or passenger ships. 

'If you take a speedboat, it takes 6 hours. The boat departs at 7pm, if the water is good at 5am tomorrow morning we will arrive in Melak,' he said.

Melak is one of the sub-districts in Kubar. It takes about 30 minutes to travel from Melak to Sendawar, the capital of Kubar.

Meanwhile, the land route is estimated to take between 10-14 hours.

'This is only up to Kubar. If you go to Mahulu, you still have to travel further, crossing from Tering via the river. The cost can be more expensive than going to Bali,' he said.  

Despite these challenges, the internet is perceived as a link to the outside world.

The Internet has become an effective medium for campaigning and community assistance. 

Fortunately, the NGO where he works also has an office in Kubar that provides internet for home.

‘Even though we don't have an office in Mahulu, we have access to home internet with good quality in our partners‘ houses,’ he said. 

The internet helps a lot in campaigning through social media, for example.

‘Usually for young friends, we always motivate them to upload their work on social media,’ he said.

If social media is a medium for young people, it is different for senior citizens.

‘The internet is very helpful for sources from Java. Not all speakers can travel here because it takes a long time so that we can do it through webinars or Zoom.

So the farmers here can still discuss with this internet,’ he said.

The farmers can gather at the partner's office to join the webinar or Zoom together.

‘They are used to it,’ she said. 

According to Christine, webinars or Zoom not only reduce funding but can also be a solution.

‘Not all speakers have a lot of time, because it takes a long time to come here,’ she said.

According to Christine, people in Kubar and Mahulu are already internet literate, but the signal still needs to be better and evenly distributed.

‘The signal is there, 4G, but the message not send,’ she said.

She even experienced delays in sending reports due to poor internet conditions when she was in Mahulu.

Finally, the report could only be sent when he had a better signal.

'Fortunately, they (Head Office) understand our condition here. It's just that sometimes we feel bad too,' she said.

The community is also always trying to improve the internet.

In several social media groups in the Kubar and Mahulu regions, there are those who sell Starlink packages, which are reportedly quite suitable for rural areas.

Although she has never used it, Christine also knows about Starlink.

'There are men who say they want to use Starlink if they work in the farm. Because in the farm, the internet is more difficult,' said Christine again.

Outside of work, Christine also uses the internet to find entertainment, both on YouTube and streaming.

Apart from that, she also does shopping. 

'Sometimes I think about going to Samarinda (capital of East Kalimantan) just to buy something cheap, so I just shop through e-commerce,' she said.

Although she has to pay for shipping costs, Christine says it's still cheaper than traveling to Samarinda.

'The internet makes it easy and very helpful,' she said. 

Finally, the report could only be sent when he had a better signal.

'Fortunately, they (Head Office) understand our condition here. It's just that sometimes we feel bad too,' she said.

The community is also always trying to improve the internet.

In several social media groups in the Kubar and Mahulu regions, there are those who sell Starlink packages, which are reportedly quite suitable for rural areas.

Although she has never used it, Christine also knows about Starlink.

'There are men who say they want to use Starlink for the garden. Because on the farm, the internet is more difficult,' said Christine again.

Outside of work, Christine also uses the internet to find entertainment, both on YouTube and streaming.

Apart from that, she also does shopping. 

'Sometimes I think about going to Samarinda just to buy that, so I just shop through e-commerce,' she said.

Although she has to pay for shipping costs, Christine says it's still cheaper than traveling to Samarinda.

'The internet makes it easy and very helpful,' she said. 

For Christine, the Internet can help many people from various backgrounds.

'Whether you use a data card, home internet or Starlink or whatever.

 Hopefully, there will be no discrimination in internet availability to remote areas,' she said.

Expand Optical Fibre to Improve Internet Quality in Remote Areas

Markus Wan, head of the Communication, Informatics, Statistics and Signage Office (Diskominfostandi) of Mahakam Ulu (Mahulu) Regency, revealed that efforts to provide internet in the Mahulu area continue even though they still face a number of obstacles.

He said that the local government has been working with Telkom to improve the quality of the internet network in public facilities, such as health centers and village government offices.

'For now, we at Kominfo have tried our best to procure the internet including in all village facilities such as community health centers, senior officials' offices, and others.

Well, we have collaborated with Telkom,' he said.

Since the beginning of this year, Diskominfostandi has continued to monitor the development of existing network quality.

He also emphasized the importance of continuity in service improvement.

'This year, since the beginning of the year, if this is good, we will continue. At this time, our network has started to be good, and our internet has also started to be good.

We have also installed our internet in the regent's office so that the new office is also ready to use our internet in collaboration with Telkom,' he explained. 

Diskominfostandi has equalized internet speed in all civil servants office by dividing bandwidth evenly, with each office getting 20 Mbps.

However, he added that when online activities such as Zoom meetings occur, his party is ready to increase bandwidth capacity to ensure the smooth running of the event.

'So we divide the existing MBPS equally, so all office  each get 20 Mbps. 

But when Zoom or other activities occur, if we receive a notification, either written or verbal, we can increase the bandwidth again,' he continued.

However, he admits that signal problems occur not only in Mahulu but also in several big cities.

'Yes, frankly, until now, let alone in Mahulu, I also see that in big cities, there are also those who still have no signal.

Well, in Mahulu, for now, there are no more blank spots.

In 2021, the Mahulu Regency Government, together with the legislative, submitted an application to the Telecommunication and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) of Kominfo to build 20 towers in areas that used to be blank spots. 

Although the towers have been built, the services available in some locations could be more satisfactory.

'The towers have been built, but the service quality is not very good. The 4G is good, but when people want to use it, they are very disturbed,' he added.

This criticism was highlighted because people complained that the 4G network could not be used optimally. 

Diskominfostandi continues to strive for Bakti Kominfo to fix this problem.

'We ask Bakti Kominfo to look at the Tri Angel towers that have been built.

Especially the capacity of the service, then the cleanliness, and the officer in charge there,' he pleaded. 

He also emphasized that the internet network is very important for the people of Mahulu, especially in this digital era, so service improvement is a top priority.

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