ST Engineering iDirect, a global leader in satellite communications, and PT. Bis Data Indonesia, a network and satellite-based internet service provider, are partnering to deploy a next-generation hub infrastructure for the Indonesian government-owned Satria-1 satellite. The implementation is part of the country’s initiative to enable connectivity to thousands of public facilities including schools, regional government offices and health facilities across remote areas of the Indonesian Archipelago.

Indonesia, the largest archipelago in the world to form a single state, comprises five main islands and some 30 smaller archipelagos. As of October 2023, 22 percent of Indonesians still do not have internet access. Faced with the challenging task of providing seamless and reliable connection to so many islands, the new government subsidized program will enable significant progress. Satria-1 is the first ‘multifunction satellite’ owned by the Indonesian government and is equipped with a 150-Gbps capacity, which is the largest satellite in Asia and the fifth largest in the world within its class.

ST Engineering iDirect has been selected to supply Satria-1 with its next-generation iDirect Hub Infrastructure DCR/DBR, deployed on its Dialog ground system. The iDirect Hub Infrastructure provides a highly scalable and flexible solution for Dialog-based gateway deployments. It also lays the groundwork for future migration to Intuition, ST Engineering iDirect’s standards-based, cloud-native next-generation ground system.

The Indonesian government has anticipated its future requirements by selecting the DCR/DBR for its flexibility to support the widest range of use cases and applications, from broadband internet to cellular backhaul and fishing to commercial maritime. These sectors contribute substantially to Indonesia’s economy in the areas of employment and GDP.

“The collaboration underscores our commitment to providing cutting-edge technology that empowers communities and drives economic growth,” said John Arnold, Regional Vice President, Asia Sales at ST Engineering iDirect. “We are excited to be part of Indonesia’s transformative initiative, deploying our next-generation iDirect Hub Infrastructure DCR/DBR on the Satria-1 satellite. With our DCR/DBR technology, the capacity can easily expand to meet the evolving needs of the Indonesian government. This not only addresses current connectivity challenges of our global customers, but also anticipates future requirements, ensuring investment protection and readiness for the transition to Intuition, our cloud-native next-generation ground system.”

“This was an ambitious project to support the Indonesian government to enable connectivity to vital public facilities across the Archipelago, including health clinics and schools, within a very short time frame,” said Nicolas Tannady, CEO, PT. Bis Data Indonesia. “It was important to us to work with a partner we could rely on to deliver a multiservice platform, which met the high standards required for the project. We’re grateful to the team at ST Engineering iDirect who helped us achieve our goal, meeting time requirements across manufacturing and shipping to testing. We look forward to utilizing the full capabilities of the platform.”