Merdeka ! Free Internet (sort of)

On August 17th, Indonesia will be celebrating its 61st year of independence. We are still a young country, we still need a lot to learn. Altough many has been achieved over the year, but we are still lagged behind other countries in many ways. One of that department is internet access :(

Anyway, my friend adiNG has wrote in his blog about cheap internet access (cdma vs gprs). He said while cdma were the cheapest available right now, it just doesnt fit the need of the user who likes to download alot. Dial up is still the best solution right now if you like to download. Meanwhile, Benny has wrote his experiences about the lack of cable modem coverage area in surabaya,  fren (mobile-8) and XL Corporate GPRS. While most dial-up user is charged on their access time, most of the mobile solution (CDMA/GPRS) were charged based on their data traffic. One of the (supposed to be helpful) solution for them is Toonel. It is said that tunnel can reduce the data traffic to user, thus reducing the bill charged to the user. Havent tried tunnel yet, so i cant say much of it. But most of Mozilla Firefox user i know would probably install an Adblock Extension. It helps you get rid of that annoying ad and also reducing the data traffic.

All of that solution is really good actually. But im a junker. I need to download a lot of junk. Im a bandwith addict :(
I have been using a dial-up account service from RadNet for almost a month now. Why i signed for radnet ?
1)Telkomnet instant isnt all that reliable
2)Telkomnet instant is very expensive (Rp. 165,- per minute = Rp. 9.900, per hour, almost Rp. 10.000,- !)
3)Radnet is very a
Cheap ? yes. very cheap. I decided to open my Radnet account using their Paket Cermat (Cerdas Hemat). Paket Cermat has a happy hour ;-) between 11pm to 5am you will get free internet access. Their monthly fee is only Rp. 30.000,- and extra usage excluding the happy hour will be charged Rp. 3.000,- per hour.

11pm to 5am ? why would you do that ?
1)I spent most of my daytime on the road. Either working, or doing useless stuff. And when i was working, i would get internet access. So i wouldnt be needing the daytime internet access from radnet. Perhaps i would use it occasionally for emails and stuff, and it would still be cheaper than Telkomnet Instant.
2)I can set my computer to dial radnet during that time, and download all the stuff i need and disconnect before the happy hour ends. Softwares like flashget, thunderbird, all have scheduling features.

But, arent you still be paying your phone bills ?
Yes, but it is still cheaper and more reliable than telkomnet instant. You can check here for local tariffs. Rp. 250,- per 2 minutes = Rp 7.500,- per hour
Rp. 7.500,- (only phonecall fees) vs Rp. 9.900,- (telkomnet).

Can it get any cheaper ?
Yes, if you are one of those fortunate enough who can get your hand on telkom flexy corporate account, they have this product who would only charge you Rp. 55.000,- per month for unlimited calling to local and flexy numbers. And yes, you can use your cdma to call local isp. I havent tried this radnet flexy combo yet, but i have tried to dial telkomnet instant using starone. So it should be ok.

Have you connected the dot now ? :-) Its kinda complicated. But yes, its a kind of free internet access ;-) The hardest part is getting the telkom flexy 55rb account. And yes, free internet access or at least cheap internet access is still a dream here in Indonesia. The quest continues...