Quality of Internet and Work-Life Balance (WLB) has a significant correlation as most of the work sectors use Internet in various aspects. Internet is also an important tool for people to conduct their daily activities. In the developing world, Internet is crucialfor a country to connect people, develop economy, and create transparency in government’s programs through e-governance. Thus, many sectors in Indonesia have started to apply Internet-based programs for different activities such as communication, navigation, banking, and online shopping. High quality Internet across Indonesia will be necessary to improve people’s productivity and living standard as many activities nowadays are Internet-based.
In Indonesia, citizens including students, businessmen, employees, teachers, and even farmers use Internet for different purposes.
According to the Jakarta Post, Indonesia has 73 million Internet users in 2015 which means that 29 percent of total populations of this country are using Internet. Unfortunately, a survey from Akamai Technologies Inc reported that quality of Internet in Indonesia has decreased this year behind Singapore, Malaysia, and Philippines. The Internet speed in Indonesia is only 2.2 Mbps which is categorized as the slowest Internet connection among other countries in Asia Pacific.
There are several Internet providers in Indonesia who provide various Internet connection quality based on fees charged. Zuhri says, “I spend around Rp. 50,000 up to Rp. 70,000 for Internet every month.” Quality of Internet he uses depends on the cost. The higher cost he pays, the better quality of Internet. However, the quality also depends location because Internet in Indonesia has not spread equally across the country yet.
Quality of Internet in Indonesia influences people’s work productivity. Zuhri believes that if Internet quality in Indonesia becomes better and cheaper, it will affect his productivity positively. “If the Internet connection is faster, I can send email to my colleagues easily and my collages will receive the information faster. Then, they will finish their work on time.” As an employee, he experiences how quality of Internet in Indonesia influences his work tasks especially the time he has to spend on a specific task.
Zuhri hopes that the Indonesian government can provide good quality Internet in Indonesia because the existence of Internet is crucial in this development era. “All information can be received faster and easier,” Zuhri says.
Currently, the Indonesian government is open to several improvement of Internet quality in Indonesia through OpenBTS program and Project Loon from Google. Hopefully, these programs will be able to provide a good quality of Internet in the whole country. Therefore, all Indonesian citizens can get access to different information and increase their productivity in their work places.
By: Yulita Muspitasari