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obile telecommunications operator PT Indosat plans to invest US$3 million in technology startups through ideaBox, the operator'€™s business accelerator program.

The program is part of efforts by the operator to develop future income streams from the fledgling digital scene.

The operator announced the launch of the ideaBox pilot project on Wednesday.

Tauseef Riaz of Ooredoo Group which controls Indosat said the operator had earmarked approximately $1 million every year to finance two accelerator programs to assist entrepreneurial startup.

Qatar-based Ooredoo Group, through Ooredoo Asia Pte. Ltd., owns 65 percent of Indosat.

'€œWe are not simply giving cash to the startups, but also access to our products like mobile advertising '€” which could be worth upward of $30,000,'€ said Riaz, a managing partner at ideaBox and Ooredoo digital and new businesses strategy, planning and corporate development director.

'€œWe are planning to run ideaBox for three years,'€ he added.

Riaz said that under the pilot project, there would be a contest throughout November that would select three startups for the four month project starting in December.

'€œWe are looking for startups valued between $500,000 and $1 million,'€ he said, explaining that the four-month-long startup acceleration program was worth roughly $100,000.

'€œThat includes a four-month salary, which each startup would receive, totaling $15,000,'€ he said.

The remainder, he added, would provided the startups with free tools, such as a 600-square-meter office, computers, Internet connection and digital specialists.

He further said that ideaBox, given it was owned by a mobile phone operator, was looking for startups developing applications related to e-commerce, mobile advertising and digital entertainment.

'€œWe have a preference for startups who already have working products,'€ he noted, adding that the accelerator program would not only aid in the '€œpolishing'€ of applications technically, but also take the applications to market.

By the end of the project, he said, the valuation of the companies would be increased by up to six times the original value. In exchange, ideaBox would take over a minority stake of up to 15 percent in every startup.

'€œThis is a real business investment,'€ he said, adding that tech-venture capitalists would meet the startups at the end of the program.

Indosat, although responsible for the funding of ideaBox, collaborated with Mountain Partners AG tasked with the running of ideaBox operations.

Mountain Partners is a Swiss-based global investment holding company that has invested in tech companies such as US giant ebay.

The operator is also working with Founders Institute, which has long provided startup training programs.

Riaz added that Indosat had stepped into the startup accelerator program to develop future income streams, given that their core voice and text business had stagnated.

As much as 81.7 percent of Indosat'€™s first semester revenue of Rp 11.7 trillion came from their cellular business.

The operator noted that cellular revenues increased 13.7 percent year-on-year to Rp 9.5 trillion on the growth of their subscription base to 56.5 million and value-added services encompassing mobile content such as mobile advertising and ring- tones.

'€œThis is why we chose to partner with startups who could develop products and services that would support Indosat'€™s business in the future,'€ he said.