Communication in Indonesia

Keeping in touch with the outside world from Indonesia is rarely a problem, at least if you stay anywhere close to the beaten track.

Telephone calls

As getting a fixed line remains an unaffordable luxury for many Indonesians, wartel (short for warung telekomunikasi) can be found on most every street in Indonesia.

If you have Global System Mobile (GSM) cellular phone, ask your local provider about "roaming agreement/facility" with local GSM operators in Indonesia (ie: PT Indosat, PT Telkomsel, PT Excelindo etc).

Making local calls
Dial (telephone number)
Making long distance calls
Dial 0-(area code)-(telephone number)
Making international calls
Dial 017-(country code)-(area code, if any)-(telephone number)
Beside "017" prefix, you can use "001", "007" or "008". For example
001-(country code)-(area code, if any)-(telephone number)
You can make International calls through operator
dial 101 or 102.
Making long distance collect calls
Dial 0871-(area code)
Connecting to the Internet
Dial 080989999 (from your modem), costing you Rp. 165/minute in business days and Rp. 100/minute in Saturdays and Sundays
TELKOM Calling Card access number
Dial 168

Mobile phones

The Indonesian mobile phone market is heavily competed and prices are low: you can pick up a prepaid SIM card for less than Rp 20,000 (US$ 2) and calls may cost as little as Rp 1,000 a minute (subject to the usual host of restrictions). Indonesia is also the world's largest market for used phones and basic models start from Rp 200,000. The largest operators are Telkomsel [27] (brand Kartu HALO, simPATI, Kartu As), Indosat [28] (brands Matrix, Mentari, IM3), 3 [29], AXIS [30], and Excelcomindo [31] (brands Jempol, Bebas).

If you have Global System Mobile (GSM) cellular phone, ask your local GSM operator about "roaming agreement/facility" in Indonesia. Most GSM operators in Indonesia have roaming agreement with various GSM operators worldwide. Using roaming facility, you can use your own cellular phone and GSM SIM card in Indonesia.

Most Indonesian operators use GSM, but beware of the few offering CDMA phones: they are slightly cheaper, but generally not usable outside major cities. Be sure to double-check when buying!

Internet

The modern-day version of the wartel is the warnet, which feature Internet-connected PCs as well, and many shops now do double duty. Prices vary considerably, and as usual you tend to get what you pay for, but you'll usually be looking at around Rp 5,000 per hour. In large cities, there are free hotspots in certain shopping malls, McDonald restaurants and StarBucks cafes. Some hotels provide free hotspots in the lobby.

If you have GSM/WCDMA Mobile phones, you can easily use them for internet connections with a prepaid card from Indosat called Mentari or IM3. There is a GPRS package with time-based calculation like PSTN dialup. The charge is only Rp 110 per minute or Rp 6600 per hour. Mentari or IM3 starter-kit is Rp 10,000 with vouchers Rp 25,000, Rp 50,000 or Rp 100,000.

Telephone directories and information services

Current time
Dial 103
Information about TELKOM services
Dial 162
Phone directory
Dial 108
Phone directory in other cities
Dial (Code Area) 108
Hello Yellow Phone Directory
Dial (62)(21) 7917 8108

Code area of large cities in Indonesia

Balikpapan (0542), Banda Aceh (0651), Bandung (022), Batam (0778), Denpasar (0361), Jakarta (021),Jogyakarta (0274), Kupang (0380), Makassar (0411), Manado (0431), Medan (061), Palembang (0711), Pekanbaru (0761), Semarang (024), Solo (0271), Surabaya (031)
[edit] Tourism Promotion Centre

* Ministry of Tourism and Culture. Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat No.17, 9th floor, Jakarta 10110, Tel.: (62)(21) 383 8303.
* Indonesia Tourism Promotion Board (BPPI), Wisma Nugraha Santana 9th flr. Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 8, Jakarta 12930. Tel.: (62)(21) 570 4879. Fax.: (62)(21) 570 4855.

Emergency

Here is a list of emergency numbers in Indonesia (please note that while these numbers are accessible for free from all non-mobile telephones, they may not be accessible from mobile phones [for mobile phones, you'd better use international mobile phones emergency number, 112]) :

* Police : 110
* Fire department : 113
* Ambulance : 118
* Search and rescue team: 115.
* Indonesian Police HQ. Jl. Trunojoyo 3, South Jakarta. Tel.: (62)(21) 7218144.
* National Search and Rescue agency (BASARNAS): Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur No.5, Jakarta 10110. Tel.: (62)(21) 348-32881, (62)(21) 348-32908, (62)(21) 348-32869, Fax.: (62)(21) 348-32884, (62)(21) 348-32885. Website: Basarnas [33].