Telekomunikasi Indonesia (better known as Telkom) is Indonesia's largest telecommunication and network provider as well as one of the largest companies in Indonesia in terms of market capitalization. The company, majority owned by the Indonesian government, has a dominating market share of between 45 and 50 percent in terms of mobile phone subscribers in Indonesia. It is the parent company of the Telkom Group, which is engaged in a range of businesses that include telecommunication, multimedia, property and financial services.

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Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), the country's second-largest lender by market capitalization, will become the world's first bank that has its own communications satellite. On 28 April 2014, a contract was signed between Arianespace and BRI for the launch of the Indonesian satellite, which will be named BRIsat. The contract signing ceremony took place in Jakarta, and was witnessed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as well as various other high positioned officials.

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Both Indonesia's Ministry of Industry and Trade propose to impose a luxury goods sales tax (PPnBM) of 20 percent on all imported mobile phones. Previously, the Ministry of Industry said the new tax rule - if approved - would only apply to cellular phones with a price tag of at least IDR 5 million (USD $442). Now, however, all imported cell phones will be affected. This new tax policy aims to curb imports of mobile phones (thus impacting positively on the trade balance) and to support the development of a domestic mobile phone industry.

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In recent years, the telecommunication sector of Indonesia has been a tough arena for mobile phone operators. In terms of voice services, the once highly prospective industry has become more and more saturated over the years. Amid fierce competition tariffs for mobile phone services have been brought down significantly, while a new group of subscribers (from the poorer segments of society) have limited spending capacity. However, with the introduction of the increasingly popular smartphone, there is still room for growth.

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The number of Indonesian Internet users grew 13 percent (year-on-year) to 71.2 million in 2013 according to data provided by the Association of Indonesian Internet Providers (APJII). Overall, Internet penetration in Indonesia now stands at around 28 percent of the country's total population of over 240 million people. The number of Internet users in Indonesia is expected to grow to 107 million in 2014 and 139 million in 2015 based on the Millennium Development Goals. However, the sector needs government support to achieve these numbers.

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According to Indonesia's Ministry of Industry, the import of mobile phones can be reduced by 50 percent within the next three years because of the establishment of new mobile phones factories. It is estimated that Indonesia imports 70 million cellular phones in 2013 as demand for mobile devices is high among the rapidly expanding middle class of Southeast Asia's largest economy. Due to this middle class and size of the total population (over 240 million people), Indonesia contains a lucrative market for telecommunication devices and services.

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In order to raise new funds for business expansion, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) is considering to list its subsidiary Telekomunikasi Seluler (Telkomsel) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2014. Through its Telkomsel unit, Telkom is Indonesia’s leading provider of mobile telecommunications and digital data services. The company currently has around 125 million cellular subscribers in a sector where rife competition for cellular subscribers has limited net profits. Telkom, however, is the only Indonesian operator that posts strong growth.

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The company profile of Smartfren Telecom has been added to the Indonesian companies section. Smartfren Telecom (FREN), controlled by the Sinar Mas Group, is an Indonesian telecommunication services provider focused on internet services and CDMA-based cellular phone services. Indonesia's telecommunications industry is a highly competitive one which makes it difficult for the smaller companies, such as Smartfren, to survive. Fitch Ratings has repeatedly warned that the company is at risk of default.

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Bakrie Telecom is one of the dozen Indonesian telecommunications operators that provide fixed digital radio cellular telecommunication network and services. The company currently has around 12 million cellular subscribers (mostly prepaid). However, both its operational and financial results are showing a worrying development. In April 2013, Fitch Ratings said that Bakrie Telecom is likely to default on its debt and needs to restructure its USD $380 million senior unsecured bonds due in May 2015.

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Indonesia Investments updated the company profile of XL Axiata. The company is one of Indonesia’s leading cellular service providers, offering various types of telecommunication products and services including Voice, SMS, Data, and other mobile telecommunication services to Indonesians through its extensive network in the country. However, Indonesia's telecommunication market has lost some of its glory as the mobile phone market has become saturated while competition remains rife.

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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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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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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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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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