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View all search resultsCourt ruling on telco data retention unlikely to impact business models
Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said the government had begun reviewing the Constitutional Court's ruling and would assess whether regulations needed to be revised.
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A tower owned by PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi (Mitratel) is pictured in an undated photograph in Langsa, Aceh. (Mitratel/-)
T
he Constitutional Court's ruling requiring mobile operators to keep customers' unused data usable after their plans expire is expected to reshape product offerings, but not necessarily upend their business models.
The ruling, issued on July 23, requires operators to give consumers a choice of plans, including rollover packages, conventional non-rollover plans and other options that protect customers' remaining data. Operators may comply by allowing data rollover or quota accumulation, extending validity periods, offering benefit transfers, providing compensation or refunds, or adopting other proportional forms of consumer protection.
Wahyudi Djafar, executive director of the Catalyst Policy Works think tank, said the court deliberately avoided prescribing a single business model, allowing operators to continue offering conventional packages as long as customers are clearly informed about their options.
"An unlimited rollover obligation could increase network capacity requirements, forcing operators to acquire more spectrum or build costly infrastructure, which could ultimately lead to higher tariffs or lower service quality,” Wahyudi said in a statement on July 28.
He instead urged the government to translate the ruling into proportional regulations that preserve consumer choice without undermining the sustainability of the telecommunications industry.
Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) telco analyst Ian Joseph Matheus Edward said operators would likely incur some additional costs because they would need more capacity to cater for customers' accumulated data.
But he opined operators would eventually adjust to customers' new usage patterns as subscribers become accustomed to consuming larger amounts of mobile data.
