79 Villages in North Maluku Still Lacked Cell Phone Signal in 2020

According to a report by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), North Maluku still had 79 villages/sub-districts without cellular phone signal in 2020. This number is equivalent to 6.6% of the 1,199 villages/sub-districts in North Maluku.

As many as 525 villages/sub-districts (43.8%) in North Maluku also have weak cellular phone signals. Only 407 villages/sub-districts (33.9%) in the province have strong signals. Meanwhile, only 188 villages/sub-districts (15.7%) have very strong signals.

Furthermore, 579 villages/sub-districts in Maluku were served by 4G/LTE cellular internet signals in 2020. This number increased by 95.6% compared to the previous year, which was only 296 villages/sub-districts.

According to regency/city, the most villages/sub-districts without cellular phone signals were in South Halmahera Regency, namely 22 villages/sub-districts. Meanwhile, all villages/sub-districts in Morotai Island Regency and Tidore Kepulauan City were recorded as having internet signals.

North Halmahera Regency was the area with the most villages/sub-districts with very strong signals in 2020. The number reached 47 villages/sub-districts. Meanwhile, 44 villages/sub-districts had strong signals in this regency.