While other countries in the region and around the globe have been affected by significant economic uncertainty, Indonesia’s economy is running at full bore, with a rapidly expanding middle class that is now the third-largest in the world.

With increased access to broadband networks, a proliferation of WiFi sites and a burgeoning smartphone market, it is little surprise that residents of six countries in Southeast Asia are going online with gusto. But what is really raising eyebrows is the fact that in some of these countries Internet usage is now surpassing traditional media such as TV, radio or print.

For the majority of countries in Asia Pacific, official primetime television starts at 6pm and finishes at 11pm*. Taking a closer look at viewing habits around the Asia Pacific region, however, the time slot when the bulk of viewers tune in is between 8pm and 9pm, when close to one third of the Asia Pacific# population (32%) is watching television.

Ramadan, the month-long period where Muslims pray and engage in reflection, started August 1st, and in Indonesia – the world’s largest Muslim country – a majority of consumers will abstain from eating during the day. But that hardly means Indonesians will spend less on food and beverages; in fact, Nielsen research shows that households actually spend more during the festive season. After sundown, families and friends gather to break the fast at Iftar time, the traditional eating of three dates or sweet snacks and then celebrate with joyous banquets and dinners.

In a sign of how times are changing, one-quarter of household shoppers in Indonesia are now men, according to Nielsen.

It’s a new era in Indonesia: global capital markets have recovered significantly since the financial crisis of 2008, and in 2010 the GDP grew 6.1 percent and GDP per capita hit US$3,000, according to the IMF World Fact Book.

Indonesian consumers have proven themselves to be optimists. Throughout the economic turbulence that started in 2008, Indonesians remained confident and positive about the country’s economic outlook according to Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index.

Inflation is becoming a critical issue in many parts of the world, but, especially in emerging markets such as Indonesia. But while prices rose 7.9 percent in 2010, household spending increased at an even faster rate – up 19.3 percent in major cities and 18.5 percent in rural Java.

Indonesia’s mobile phone penetration has surged in the past five years while the number of landlines is declining, according to new research by The Nielsen Company.

Advertising spending in Indonesia posted robust growth in 2010, rising 23% to a total of Rp 60 trillion, according to an analysis by The Nielsen Company.