President Joko Widodo was accompanied by State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif, Investment Minister/Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Head Bahlil Lahadalia and State Secretary Pratikno in launching the 5G Underground Smart Mining on Sept. 1, 2022 at a PTFI workshop in Tembagapura, Papua.

“One of our key priorities is to realize technology leadership,” said Erick.

“Referring to a study by Deloitte International in 2021, 5G has been tested and implemented in the United States, Sweden, China and Russia, resulting in improved productivity of up to 25 percent, [while] operating costs, particularly in the drilling sector, decreased to 40 percent and energy savings [increased] up to 20 percent,” he added, expressing his hope that Indonesia would see similar improvements.

“Following the successful implementation of the first 5G network in Indonesia today, Telkomsel maintains its commitment to strengthening the ecosystem of 5G implementation by presenting the first 5G Underground Smart Mining at PTFI,” said Telkomsel CEO Hendri Mulya Syam.

“This will strengthen our nation’s digital sovereignty through Industry 4.0 through the automation of the mining sector and improvements in the digital capabilities of human resources,” Hendri emphasized.

Telkomsel has deployed six 5G base transceiver stations (BTS) to cover PTFI’s mining sites in Tembagapura, including underground mines.

As PTFI CEO Tony Wenas explained, mining activities took place at depths of more than 1,500 meters underground and posed a substantial risk for workers and assets. The 5G Underground Smart Mining technology could limit the potential dangers through its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered camera.

Smart mining is the latest technology driving the optimization of mining operations by employing AI, the internet of things (IoT), machine learning and big data for the sector. Telkomsel’s latest innovation is designed to digitalize underground mining activities and is expected to change the operating framework of the whole industry.

The benefits of implementing 5G smart mining include its low latencies, which will ensure real-time monitoring and supervision, so mining companies can integrate all data to create safer work processes. It also offers faster network access to transmit data in real time, allowing companies to utilize the data for quicker and better decision-making among operations managers.

The 5G Underground Smart Mining also offers wider 5G network coverage for connecting more devices for greater efficiency in operating costs while reducing the carbon footprint of mining activities, leading to less environmental harm.

As the first digital company to successfully deploy 5G networks across the country, Telkomsel has so far provided its Hyper 5G network in 39 cities supported by 248 units of 5G BTS. In its previous efforts to deploy 5G technology across industries and companies, Telkomsel jas collaborated with Schneider Electric to implement the 5G Smart Manufacture in Batam and with PT Jababeka Infrastruktur to implement the Smart Industrial in Jababeka, West Java.

“I am confident that this breakthrough implementation of 5G Underground Smart Mining supported by Telkomsel can also be applied to other [companies] in Indonesia’s mining ecosystem and [prompt] more digital innovations in the mining industry, which in turn will bring plenty of benefits to society and the country,” said Erick.

“Telkomsel continues to move beyond boundaries to open more opportunities for collaboration as the company accelerates the cross-sector digital transformation road map through the use of more comprehensive 5G technology,” said Hendri.

“We will ensure that this digital transformation will also contribute to the growth of Indonesia’s digital economy, inclusively and sustainably,” he underlined.

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