The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) released data on the proportion of mobile phone use in 2020. The results show that the lowest proportion of mobile phone users is dominated by provinces in eastern Indonesia.
BPS data indicates that Papua has the lowest national proportion of mobile phone use. In 2020, only 36.91% of Papua's total population used mobile phones. This figure is lower than in other provinces.
Besides Papua, other eastern Indonesian regions also have low mobile phone usage proportions. For example, mobile phone use in East Nusa Tenggara was 39.19%, West Sulawesi 48.58%, and North Maluku 49.51%.
The number of mobile phone SIM cards in Indonesia exceeds 300 million units, surpassing the population of 270 million. However, many people still do not use cellular or wireless networks for long-distance communication.
Nationally, the proportion of individuals using mobile phones reached only 57.48%, down from 63.53% the previous year. Seventeen provinces were below the national average, and seventeen were above.