Jakarta, CNN Indonesia – Communication and Information Minister Johnny G Plate said the broken submarine cables in Jayapura waters, which had caused an internet blackout in Jayapura City and its surrounding areas in the past month, was broken due to a natural event.
“From our observation, the disturbance is caused by natural factors,” Plate said virtually on Monday, June 7, 2021.
“The potential [of disturbance] is very high in the area because this area is related to volcanic activity,” he added.
Plate suspected that the heat from underwater volcanic activity resulted in high temperatures that could break the submarine cable.
Submarine cables of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (PT Telkom) were broken on April 30, 2021, and have caused internet blackout in Jayapura, Abepura, Sentani, and Sarmi until today.
Plate said that the incident in late April was not the first time. He said that internet disruption due to broken submarine cables, which was caused by natural factors, had occurred at least five times.
Plate hoped that the internet service in Jayapura could be recovered soon. However, PT Telkom said that the submarine cable recovery process is disrupted by bad weather.
PT Telkom Papua head Sugeng Widodo said it would take at least one month for the internet service to recover. “For the time being, the people in Jayapura and Sarmi can only use the phone and short messaging services,” Widodo said.
