Just one year after completing its $6 billion merger of Indosat Ooredoo with Hutchison 3 Indonesia, the combined company’s President Director and CEO Vikram Sinha told a group of journalists on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona last week that the newly merged company has “defied expectations” and is on track to create value for its stakeholders and improve connectivity in Indonesia. “This is good for the sector and also good for Indonesia,” he said.

Figure 1: Vikram Sinha, President Director & CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison

The merged company, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (Indosat), reported total revenues of IDR46.7 billion (US$3.05 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2022, and the company’s net profits increased by 76% to IDR1.5 billion in a year. In addition, the company saw its data traffic nearly double and its mobile subscriber base grow by 3.6 million in the 4th quarter to 102.2 million subscribers. Indosat is the second largest mobile operator in Indonesia, which has 173.3 million subscribers.
Sinha touted the company’s other accomplishments, noting that Indosat is a strong company that comes with a strong brand and is committed bringing prosperity to Indonesia. He also said that the timing of the merger jived well with the country’s growing middle class and well as the rising number of small and medium enterprises. He highlighted the growing focus on digitalization across Indonesia, which his company expects to play a large role in. “The potential is much bigger,” he said.
Sinha provided some insight on some of Indosat’s aspirations for the future. He said that Indosat aims to connect 21 million unconnected Indonesians in the coming year and is targeting those in rural areas that currently do not have access to mobile services. “We have to bring it to all the villages, not just Jakarta,” he said, adding that by giving people access to mobile services they will have more opportunities to earn a living. “For people to earn their livelihood they have to be connected,” he said.
But Sinha added that getting people connected is just the first step. The company also plans to work with partners to deliver additional enhanced services such as banking and lending through a marketplace. “The first step is connecting them to a good experience,” he said, adding that he believes Indonesians will pay for additional services that help them with their productivity.

5G will play a key role in future
When it comes to 5G, Sinha said that Indosat plans to purchase C-band spectrum when regulators decide to auction the spectrum. Currently Indonesian regulators have not announced a date for the C-band spectrum auction.
In the meantime, the company has launched 400 5G cell sites in six cities, focusing primarily on urban and densely populated areas of Indonesia. However, Sinha believes that 5G offers an opportunity for the mobile operator to deliver home broadband services as a substitute for fiber services. Plus, he is encouraged by reports that when people move to 5G they consume more data than they did on 4G. “This is good news,” he said.
However, Sinha said that the company is not waiting on 5G to deliver more value-added services to customers. He noted that the majority of the company’s subscribers (75%) are on Indosat’s LTE network and it will continue to deliver more uses cases on 4G.
Indosat is also working closely with industries to build enterprise use cases using LTE initially. For example, Indosat is working with the mining industry to help them better understand how wireless can make the industry more efficient.
Sinha also believes there is great promise with private networks and automation, noting that enterprises desperately want reliable, high-quality services to help make their businesses more efficient.

Thriving competitor Just one year after the merger, Indosat is a thriving competitor in the Indonesian mobile market. Sinha sees a bright future ahead for his firm, noting that customers are looking for reliable services that will help them make their lives better.
“People need a good experience, not a cheap product,” Sinha said. “We’ve come a long way.”

To learn more about Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, please click here.

This content is sponsored by Indosat.