PLN to enter internet arena
INDONESIA’S state electricity firm PLN plans to penetrate into the internet business by installing “smart meter boxes” in the houses of its 65.9 million customers nationwide amid declining growth in its electricity sales.
PLN has found it difficult to monitor the quality of its electricity supply amid mounting reports from customers that have experienced sporadic outages and under-voltage supply. Therefore, it plans to replace all conventional electricity meter boxes currently installed in the houses of its customers with new automated ones by 2019.
The new boxes will be able to collect data, including the volume and voltage of the electricity used by each customer, so that PLN can monitor the quality of its electricity supply on a daily basis.
“After the new meter boxes are installed, we plan to offer new internet services using our electricity networks to 40-60 per cent of our total customers. We can also be an internet provider through the presence of these ‘smart meter boxes’,” PLN marketing division head Benny Marbun said.
