We’ve dissected the growth and presence of LTE in the United States, but that doesn’t mean other countries are doing as much, if not more when it comes to launching the new technology. Let’s dive into the status of growth in other areas, specifically LTE Networks in Indonesia – 2013 Forecast and Trends.
Many countries outside of the United States are quickly adopting Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 4G technology, Indonesia, however is one of the few countries in Southeast Asia that is yet to deploy 4G commercially, and it’s under pressure from all fronts to rectify that situation. According to TNW The Next Web, it’s likely that Indonesia will not see widespread LTE/4G roll-out until 2014.
TNW also reported that at an event held to discuss 4G LTE in Jakarta on Thursday, carriers, regulators, network companies, and the government all agreed that the implementation of 4G needs to happen sooner rather than later. Indonesia is behind, and they know it. Head of the telecommunications section of the Indonesian chamber of commerce Johnny Swandi Sjam delivered a speech and acknowledged that the country is trailing many of its neighbors.
“Other countries may have already implemented 4G networks but we have just recently completed the final tender on the final two blocks of the 3G frequency,” he noted.
During his speech, Sjam also looked back on trends, explaining that during Indonesia’s first decade in the mobile communications space, the focus was on voice calls. And, even though voice was popular in the beginning, thanks to SMS, text messaging eventually took over. Sjam projects that 2G data subscribers will fall to 5 percent by 2015, whereas 3G subscribers are estimated to reach 45 percent during that time, incorporating 4G subscribers once it’s commercially available (which assumes Indonesia will have 4G connectivity by that time).
So what is stopping 4G in this country? The consumers and customers don’t seem too apt to have it anytime soon. Sjam is concerned that current 3G networks are so limited in frequency that it has pushed the popularity of apps that require low intensity data connections. That, in turn, has driven operator revenues down. It will be a gradual process, but 4G should knock the revenues up again. SIM card penetration reached 119.9 percent of the total population in 2012, Sjam said, and it’s expected to reach 144 percent within the next three years, but actual usage lags at 58 percent.
“A significant number of SIMs are used like disposable calling cards which is hurting carriers in terms of revenue and projections,” he continued. “That growth rate is actually relatively low but it represents an opportunity for carriers to seek new customers, especially in an age when many people carry multiple devices.”
Indonesia will also need be adequately prepared, and acquire appropriate bandwidth. When 4G LTE goes live, people will take advantage of smartphones more and more. This requires bandwidth, something that everyone is after! Alexander Rusli, President Director and CEO of Indosat, a telecom provider in Indonesia, said that the world has become more bandwidth hungry. As devices become more sophisticated, the data traffic consumed by these devices increase in multiple folds. He claimed that data consumption on tablets is 120-times greater than on traditional feature phones, while smartphones consume around 50-times more data.
“When customers switch to a more sophisticated device, their data usage increases,” Rusli said.
“The bulk of the production is smart devices, no longer feature phones,” he continued. “At Mobile World Congress, the focus was on smart devices while only a small number of feature phones were announced. People used to want more processing power, but now they want more bandwidth.” [1]
Another possible reason for delay? It could have something to do with Telkomsel, one of Indonesia’s biggest mobile operators going bankrupt in late 2012. Reported by telecoms.com, Telkomsel declared bankruptcy and was therefore not allowed to bid on additional spectrum in the 1900MHz band. [2]
But for 4G LTE-hungry Indonesia, an upgrade may not be too far off. The government is scheduled to complete its 4G regulations by the end of the year. This will open the door for a commercial rollout in 2014. Bouncing back from its financial woes last year, Telkom Indonesia says that its Telkomsel subsidiary has plans to commercially roll out 4G LTE later this year in four areas: Jakarta, Bali, Medan and Manado. It is not clear, however, which frequency will be used. One thing’s for sure, the government there needs to learn from the mistakes made when failing to rollout WiMAX in Indonesia. Keep an eye on Indonesia – they’ve lagged, but it sounds like 4G LTE is right around the corner!
[1] The Next Web (TNW), Indonesia unlikely to see widespread 4G LTE rollout until at least 2014, http://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/03/15/indonesia-unlikely-to-see-widespread-4g-lte-rollout-until-at-least-2014/
[2] telecoms.com, Spectrum auction delayed as Telkomsel declared bankrupt, http://www.telecoms.com/49647/spectrum-auction-delayed-as-telkomsel-declared-bankrupt/
