Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.

Today's Headlines Telecommunication

  • Over 100 Million Prepaid SIM Cards Blocked by Indonesian Government

    The Indonesian government has already blocked 100.9 million prepaid SIM cards in the 1-31 March 2018 period as mobile phone users failed to re-register their prepaid phone numbers with a valid national identification card (KTP) and family card (KK). Meanwhile, 305 million SIM cards were re-registered during the period (considering many Indonesians use more than one SIM card the figure is higher than the total number of Indonesians).

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  • Tower Bersama Infrastructure Eyes Tower Construction & Acquisition

    Tower Bersama Infrastructure, a leading independent telecommunication tower developer in Indonesia, set aside IDR 1 trillion (approx. USD $74 million) for the development of new telecommunication towers in 2018. Meanwhile, the company is also ready to acquire towers from its domestic counterparts.

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  • Indonesia to Tighten Monitoring of Satellite Operators

    The Indonesian government said it will ban the use of satellites that have exceeded their life expectancy in order to avoid incidents such as happened with the Telkom-1 satellite. Last month millions of Indonesians could not use ATMs (for withdrawing money and conducting various payments) for several days as the Telkom-1 satellite, which is used by several banks in Indonesia for data transmission, suffered technical difficulties.

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  • iPhone 7 Launched in Indonesia, Apple Invests in Innovation Center

    American multinational technology company Apple Inc soon has to realize 40 percent of its total USD $44 million worth of investment plans in Indonesia if it wants to keep distributing its iPhone 7 on the Indonesian market. Late last year Apple committed itself to invest a total of USD $44 million in the establishment of innovation centers in Indonesia over the next three years. However, 40 percent of the total is required to be invested in the first year (which is 2017).

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  • Apple to Develop 2nd-Largest Research & Development Facility in Indonesia

    Indonesian Communication & Information Minister Rudiantara informed on Wednesday (02/11) that American multinational technology company Apple Inc. - famous for designing, developing, and selling consumer electronics, computer software, and online services - will start building its second-biggest research and development facility in Indonesia somewhere in 2017. Although Apple has not commented on the news, Rudiantara confirmed that he had met several representatives from both Apple's Asia Pacific office and the US headquarters.

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  • Indonesia's Indosat Ooredoo & XL Axiata Suspected of Cartel Practices

    Indonesia's Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has ordered telecommunication operators Indosat Ooredoo and XL Axiata to provide more details concerning the establishment of their joint venture One Indonesia Synergy. The KPPU suspects that both companies are involved in cartel practices, more specifically the companies are suspected to have breached Law No. 5/1999 on the Ban on Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Business Competition in terms of price fixing, market allocation and output restriction.

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  • Telecommunication Sector Indonesia: Saturated Mobile Phone Market

    Another sign that the mobile phone market of Indonesia is saturated is that the number of (active) mobile phone numbers has only grown by 1 percent between the end of 2015 and the end of Q1-2016. Previously, we reported that the attractiveness of Indonesia's telecommunications market has been weakened due to sharp competition between operators, slowing profit margins and a saturating voice and SMS services market. However, there remains room for growth in data services and value-added services given Indonesia's still relatively low smartphone penetration (as well as low Internet penetration).

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  • Palapa Ring Project to Boost Indonesia's Internet Penetration

    One of Indonesia's priority infrastructure projects in the 2016-2019 period is the Palapa Ring project. This project, involving an undersea fiber-optic cable network that stretches across 13,000 kilometers and an onshore network of nearly 22,000 kilometers, aims to provide fast broadband Internet to Indonesians in both the urban and rural areas. The project is the first government-to-business cooperation scheme within Indonesia's telecommunication sector that utilizes the so-called "availability payment method".

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  • Indonesian Smartphone Users Replace Their Device Every Two Years

    Good news for smartphone manufacturers in Indonesia. Based on a survey conducted by Advan, MARS Research Specialist, and telecommunications expert Hasnul Suhaimi, the majority of Indonesian consumers replace their smartphone with a new one every two years, on average, as they want to own a newer model (with more attractive features and applications) or because they need to replace their damaged smartphone. Another - and obvious - conclusion of the survey was that Indonesian consumers want a high-quality smartphone at an affordable price.

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  • Bank Rakyat Indonesia's BRIsat Satellite to Launch Next Week

    State-controlled financial institution Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) is scheduled to launch its satellite - called BRIsat - at 03:30 am local Jakarta time on 9 June 2016 in Kourou (French Guiana). BRI President Asmawi Syam told reporters that the launch is a milestone, not only for BRI but for the global banking industry as BRI will become the first bank to operate its own communications satellite. In Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, a satellite is more efficient than fiber optic. With the BRIsat the bank is able to reach (potential) customers in the remote areas.

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Latest Columns Telecommunication

  • Mobile Phone Industry Indonesia: Smartphone Penetration Still Low

    The government of Indonesia targets to see 35 million domestically-produced mobile phones (per year) starting from 2017. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s wireless network is to be upgraded to 4G speeds by the same year (a 4G network is the new necessity for those with smartphones or tablets) although currently the country’s telecommunication operators are still in the middle of building receivers to boost 3G utilization. The government hopes to see a total of USD $4.5 billion investment in the telematics sector.

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  • Mixed Opinions about New Smartphone Regulation of Indonesia

    The recently unveiled Indonesian regulation that forces the country’s 4G smartphone and tablet manufacturers to use at least 40 percent locally-produced components in their cell-phone devices is a source of concern for tech companies such as Apple and Samsung that are eager to expand into Indonesia where smartphone penetration is still low. Moreover, the restriction may encourage smartphone smuggling in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The new regulation will come into effect on 1 January 2017.

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  • Domestic Consumption, Smartphones and Social Media in Indonesia

    The high level of consumption in Indonesia is remarkable. In fact, household consumption in Indonesia is an important engine of economic expansion in Southeast Asia’s largest economy as it accounts for about 55 percent of economic growth. One of the most popular consumption products are gadgets, in particular mobile gadgets. Just take a look in urban environments in Indonesia; everywhere people are holding, playing with, and communicating through some sort of mobile technological device.

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  • Press Release: Indosat-Novosol Partnership: A Treat for Football Fans

    Indosat, one of Indonesia's largest telecommunication networks and services provider, has partnered with Novosol, a Singapore headquartered mobile media and advertising company. Indosat will offer Novosol's MoFutbol multimedia mobile magazine to its fifty million plus subscribers at no charge. MoFutbol is a 24x7 magazine videos, photo-stories and real time scrollers. MoFutbol is the first multimedia mobile football service in the Indonesian language. The Mandarin and Malay editions will follow soon.

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