Fajar Pebrianto, Jakarta – State telecommunications firm Telkom (Telkom Indonesia) announced that it is fixing the damaged underwater Sulawesi Maluku Papua Cable System (SMPCS) which has caused internet blackout in Jayapura, Papua and its vicinity for over 10 days.

"We predict that the process of searching, lifting, and reconnecting [the broken cables] will be completed within the first week of June this year," said Telkom vice president corporate communication, Pujo Pramono, on May 10.

Telkom had set a ship for the maintenance of the submarine communications cables. But due to the many specific preparations that must be met, they had extended the process which include preparing the equipment, licenses, availability of expert personnel, and mainly the availability of the crucial equipment itself.

He said that the process may complete quicker than the initial schedule. For the meantime, Telkom has prepared a backup plan by using the East Palapa Ring radio IP and satellite systems to provide Jayapura and its vicinity with internet connection.

The recovered bandwidth capacity in Jayapura, the company announced, had reached 2,562 Mbps.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1461518/broken-cable-crippling-papuas-internet-fixed-in-june-telko