T

he mobile phone network industry in Indonesia is entering its mature stage, with teledensity penetration reaching 120 percent. Previously limited to the voice and SMS fields, today it has expanded to include sending and receiving of data with mobile broadband capacity.

Almost all cellular operators here are seizing a wealth of opportunities in the digital business to increase their customers from the vast population of 260 million, most of them young and with a yen for technology.

This includes heavy investment in their network and infrastructure to reap optimal results in providing comprehensive services.

Cellular operator XL Axiata, for example, has used about 60 percent of its 2012 capital expenditure to strengthen its 3G network and will continue expanding and increasing the capacity in 2013.

 'Up until 2013, XL is still focusing on 3G as we want to ensure the good quality of 3G for it to run smoothly,' said marketing director Joy Wahyudi.

 The commitment to expanding its 3G network means that XL will focus on data service or Internet. Its main starting SIM card, Kartu perdana XL Bebas, is one of its efforts to increase customers for this type of service.

'Our target is to sell 10 million of these SIM cards within the first two months,' said Joy.

Of XL's 42.3 million users recorded in the third quarter of 2012, 60 percent are Internet customers, and the company expects it to increase to 70 percent in 2013.

Currently, XL data traffic is 85 terrabite (TB) per day. Today's telecommunication trend is the increased usage of data service; although for phone and SMS services the volume is still going up, it is overall on a downward trend.

XL said its 3G network was already available in 22 cities, with a target for 18 additional cities this year.

PT XL president director Axiata Hasnul Suhaimi acknowledged the company's heightened focus on providing data service, with the preparation of related infrastructure to boost revenue amid excellent prospects.

 'Data service is growing by 50 percent and it will grow further in the near future. We are investing a lot and rapidly to gain better net profit, and we are also on track with network maintenance and tower rentals. Data service is growing from 15 percent to 20 percent at the very least, and it has great potential due to its increasing contribution to a company's revenue,' he said.

 'Data service will keep growing year in year out, so we will provide our customers with the best enhanced capacity and quality in comparison with others. Business in future will consist of digital service and we aim to be the best in this area.'

Telkomsel's Venusiana Papasi said the company would remain focused on gaining new customers through a number of services, such as mobile advertising, digital solutions, people to machine as well as machine to machine.

'In the near future our customers will not only be humans but will include their machines, like cars, motorbikes as well as electronics. In other words we can call them non-human customers which can be controlled by cellular services,' said the head of area for Jabotabek West Java Group.

 This upward digital trend is clear from a number of indicators, such as corporations that have benefited from Telkomsel's digital services with its Corporate Business Solutions, which include Fleet Management, Electronic Data Capture (EDC), Sales Force Automation, Telemetry, Mobile Tracking and Mobile Virtual Private Network (mVPN).

The growth of non-human customers has soared in the past four years, and in 2012 reached almost half of total customers.

As of the end of 2012, Telkomsel owned 54,297 Base Transceiver Stations, including 15,433 installed units of 3G Node-B, an increase of 27.4 percent compared to the same period the previous year. The company said it showed its commitment to expand its 3G network via its 100- city broadband program in Indonesia.

 It said it also recorded a 16.9 percent gain in customers due to its key competitiveness strengths.

 Divison head of device bundling and customization strategy Arief Pradetya said the enhanced quality of the company's network would draw new customers, especially for its data service.

'We are optimistic that Telkomsel's data customers will grow from 54 million in 2012 to 82 million this year,' he said.

He believed it would boost the company's revenue from the data service sector as much as 5 percent: last year it contributed about 15 percent of total revenue and in 2013 Telkomsel has set an ambitious target to increase it by 20 percent.

Indosat is targeting an increase of 10 percent ' or about 4.5 million customers ' from its youth consumer segment through its IM3 product, especially for SMS. That would come to 49.5 million customers by the end of this year.

Company research shows IM3 customers and future customers still rely on its SMS feature for their telecommunication needs. The company ensures there is no extra cost for SMS to other operators, with its IM3 Suka-Suka product allowing subscribers to send free SMS to all operators after using phone, SMS and Internet services of only Rp 250 per day. The free SMS quota can reach more than 1,000 SMS per day per customer.

According to the company's performance report for the fourth quarter of 2012, it has 58.5 million customers ' a 13.1 percent increase from 2011. The company's revenue is recorded at Rp 22.7 trillion, up 10.4 percent from Rp 20.5 trillion in the same period the previous year.

Cellular services contributed Rp 18.7 trillion in revenue, while noncellular revenue or data service contributed Rp 3.9 trillion. Profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization increased 10.2 percent to Rp 10.5 trillion.