The Government Installs Starlink to Support Emergency Communications Access in Sumatera

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The government is utilizing Starlink to restore cellular and internet communications disrupted by floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. At the same time, several mobile telecommunications operators are still working to restore base transceiver stations (BTS).

The Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Lieutenant General TNI Suharyanto, stated that President Prabowo Subianto has sent various assistance to address natural disasters in Sumatra. One of the aids includes the delivery of Starlink along with generators to support communication.

"The Starlink communication device and its generator are very useful, especially in Central Tapanuli (North Sumatra) where electricity and water are still unavailable. When entering Central Tapanuli, there is no signal at all. Starlink has been distributed to local governments, evacuation centers, and the TNI/Polri Task Force," he stated at a hybrid press conference on Friday (28/11/2025).

Similar to North Sumatra, communication lines in Aceh are relatively disrupted. The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) must install Starlink in several areas. Improving communication lines will be a priority in the coming days.

"In the next 1-2 days, we are indeed focusing on the evacuation, search and rescue of victims, distribution of logistics, and reopening transportation and communication routes that have been disrupted. We are taking steps to manage the refugees," said Suharyanto.

Communication lines in West Sumatra are considered to be functioning quite well. However, emergency communications are still being conducted via Starlink.

According to Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison data as of Thursday (November 27, 2025), 71.68 percent of points in northern Sumatra were functioning properly. The technical team is accelerating the recovery process, which involves repairing telecommunications transportation routes and deploying portable power sources deployed to affected locations.

"With these measures, Indosat has been able to maintain the continuity of basic services, such as telephone and text messaging, as well as limited data services," said Executive Vice President (EVP) Head of Sumatra Circle Indosat Agus Sulistio in a written statement.

Indosat is committed to maintaining service continuity and supporting the communication needs of customers in the affected areas. The company also expressed deep empathy for the disasters of flash floods and landslides that have struck various locations, including Aceh, Sibolga City, Central Tapanuli, South Tapanuli, North Tapanuli, and several areas in West Sumatra.

A similar sentiment was expressed by the General Manager of Region Network Operations and Productivity Sumbagut PT Telekomunikasi Selular or Telkomsel, Nurdianto. As of Thursday (27/11/20252), several transportation network points were affected by disasters and massive power outages. Consequently, the quality of the Telkomsel network has declined in several related areas.

"We continue to coordinate with various parties and strive to expedite the recovery of the network, so that customers can once again enjoy communication services smoothly," said Nurdianto.

Several BTS owned by PT XLSmart Telecom Sejahtera Tbk were also affected by this natural disaster. This is closely related to the lack of electricity supply in the impacted areas.

"Meanwhile, regarding the network, there are several of our base transceiver stations (BTS) that have been affected due to the lack of electricity supply. Currently, we are still making efforts to check and restore the affected BTS. As for the details, we are not able to provide that information yet," said Group Head of Corporate Communication and Sustainability at XLSmart, Reza Mirza.

According to data from the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemenkomdigi), Thursday (11/27/2025), there are 34,660 telecommunications transmitter sites and 495 of them are not functioning due to flooding. With the same number of sites in Aceh, 799 sites were affected. The disruption occurred mainly because the electricity flow from PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to these sites stopped. West Sumatra is supported by 3,739 existing sites, while 16 of them are offline due to flooding.

Currently, the Ministry of Communication and Digital (Kemenkomdigi) stated that mobile telecommunications operators are working to restore the affected sites. They plan to use generators as an alternative power source until electricity returns to normal.

"However, they themselves faced obstacles. Access to the site was affected by flooding, hampering the mobilization of generators," wrote the Ministry of Communication and Digital Technology.

Mobile telecommunications operators are claimed to have performed routing, or selecting the best path to transmit signal flow to several points that can still be served. Verification is still underway for further checking (Kompas.id, 11/27/2025).

According to the latest data from BNPB this afternoon, the highest number of victims is recorded in North Sumatra. The death toll has reached 116 individuals, while 42 others are still missing. The displaced individuals are spread across several locations, totaling more than 1,000 families.

In Aceh, a total of 35 individuals have been reported deceased, while 25 others are still declared missing. The number of evacuees has reached 4,846 households. In West Sumatra, there are 23 reported deaths and 12 individuals missing. Approximately 3,900 households are displaced.

According to Heru Sutadi, Executive Director of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Institute, cellular telecommunications operators need to check and repair faulty generators and other technical components. If this is still not possible, mobile combat communications must be deployed immediately.

"This only has BTS in his car to serve as a temporary BTS as a means of communication for the community. Public telephone booths also need to be provided so that the community can utilize communication services," said Heru.

Learning from this disaster, Heru continued, the government and other stakeholders must prepare disaster response vehicles specifically for communication. This tool has been commonly implemented by other countries.