CB Radios Around the World: Indonesia

As one of the premier forms of communications in the late 1900’s, CB radio quickly spread around the world as popularity continued to soar! In this iteration of CB around the world, we will cover the history of CB radio in Indonesia.

The introduction of CB radio in Indonesia actually began illegally, with transceivers being smuggled in from the US, Australia, and Japan in 1977. At this time period in Indonesia, radio was already an extremely popular form of communication and the crackdown on CB radio wasn't particularly strict, it blossomed in large cities. Cities such as Jakarta and Surabaya, a few of the largest cities in the country, saw CB usage boom.

With this, the Minister of Communications decided to legalize CB radio on October 6th, 1980. This also included the establishment of the Radio Antar Penduduk Indonesia (RAPI) as the official CB radio organization for Indonesia. At this point CB radio was already popular enough that the 40 channel American band plan was adopted without any struggle. Later in 1994, the Australian UHF channel plan was added in.

We hope you found this history of the CB radio system in Indonesia interesting and let you appreciate your radio system a little bit more! At CB Radio Supply, we are here for all your radio needs and offer a wide range of customer service! Our free domestic US shipping and hassle-free returns is our guarantee you’ll be satisfied with your choices. Give us a call to speak with our expert staff today!