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elecommunications company PT XL Axiata is gradually shifting its 2G network from the faster 1,800 MHz spectrum to its lower frequency 900 MHz spectrum in order to make more room to accommodate its 4G/LTE network.

As the company moves ever forward in modernizing and expanding its 4G/LTE network, several technical measures are being taken in order to strengthen its network.

XL'€™s general manager for service assurance and improvement Ahmad Hamzah said in Jakarta on Thursday that XL was focusing on a gradual shift away from its 2G network to help encourage its customers to use its 4G network.

Among the measures are the gradual reduction of the 2G reliance on the 1,800 MHz spectrum, which has been under a refarming program throughout 2015 by XL and three other operators, for nationwide 4G availability.

'€œAs demand grows for our 4G network, we plan to gradually sacrifice our 2G network that exists within the 1,800 MHz spectrum, and move it to the lower frequency. However, this will only happen when demand for 4G in a certain area reaches its capacity. It doesn'€™t mean we will completely erase our 2G network,'€ Ahmad said on Thursday.

He assessed that demand capacity would likely reach its limit first in the Greater Jakarta area, which has the most 4G users. Currently the company is relying on the market reaction in the region before deciding on any spectrum changes.

XL currently has up to 3 million users nationwide on its 4G/LTE network, which Ahmad said was still considered '€œpretty low'€. The company'€™s 4G is available in 35 cities currently, with a plan to increase the amount of linked cities to 85 by the end of 2016. It previously hosted its 4G network on the lower frequency 900 MHz spectrum, prior to the nationwide refarming.

Most of XL'€™s 4G users are found in the Greater Jakarta area, where up to 1,600 specific base transceiver stations (BTS) carry the network within the region, primarily within inner Jakarta. Ahmad says that the number is still miniscule, compared with the 8,000 BTSes in the inner Greater Jakarta region for its 2G network

Addressing the usage of 4G, Ahmad admitted that part of the network'€™s performance also had to do with the type of mobile phone that the user was using, as a better gadget would obviously guarantee better coverage.

Earlier in November, XL partnered with Swedish telecommunications and services producer Ericsson to set up more BTS to help expand its 4G/LTE network over the next three years. XL was also the first operator to announce its new 4G network to the public once spectrum refarming concluded in November.

Meanwhile, Indosat Ooredoo, which currently operates 4G/LTE services in 27 cities nationwide, plans to expand the high speed broadband service to 14 more cities throughout 2016.

As part of its efforts to encourage customers to shift to the 4G/LTE network, Indosat offers bundle packages to make it easier for users to migrate to high-speed broadband, the company said recently.

The packages, such as the Freedom Combo, allows users to decide when they can use their data quotas, thereby abolishing time limits featured on some data deals.

The new package also eliminates '€œunnecessary tariffs'€, such as increased fares when users use their data quotas in a different region of Indonesia. In some cities and towns, data fares tend to be higher than in others due to such factors as mediocre infrastructure.