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elecommunications operator Smartfren is on track to achieve its year-end target of having its digital services contribute 5 percent to its revenues, utilizing its gains in their value-added services (VAS), Internet of Things (IoT) and digital financing.

As an operator that boasts that 85 percent of its earnings come from data, Smartfren says that its digital services grew by 38 percent year on year at the end of the second quarter of 2016, with its digital services currently contributing about 3 percent to its overall revenues.

While it is still a relatively low contribution compared with its network and voice earnings, among the VAS features that the operator wants to improve on are included its smart solutions and home solutions. It is therefore also developing its IoT technologies.

“By the end of the year, we feel that our growing digital services segment will grow by 5 percent. Last year, it was at 2.7 percent, but with an increasing interest in our services, of course we are trying to reach our set limit,” the company’s senior vice president for digital services, Revie Sylviana, said on Wednesday.

Smartfren’s recent assistance toward the financial technology industry has been cited as one of the reasons why its digital services have increased. With its Uangku e-wallet mobile app, the operator has partnered with fellow Sinarmas affiliate DimoPay, which fitted the app with the Pay-by-QR option.

Other means of promoting its digital service include partnering with fellow over-the-top (OTT) companies in order to provide content.

Earlier in the year, Smartfren said it would allocate US$100 million of its capital expenditure (capex), which will mainly be used to cover blank spots in its network. It currently has 9,025 base transceiver stations scattered across the nation, many of which are used to power its 4G network.

Smartfren currently has 2.5 million users in its 4G network and has spread its coverage to about 200 cities as of the second quarter of the year.

On Wednesday, Smartfren announced a partnership with social media site Twitter on Wednesday, which will result in users receiving curated Twitter content through the My Smartfren application, the Smartfren website, or even through SMS and multimedia blasts.

Through such partnerships, Smartfren says that its engagement with its users will increase as its digital customers increase. “We see the partnership as a way we can bring our experience in the use of our 4G network,” Revie added.

Meanwhile, Twitter’s Indonesia country director Roy Simangunsong noted that further partnerships with Smartfren are possibly in the cards if this one goes well. The Twitter access service has been operating in Smartfren’s services for the last 20 days and has amassed 200,000 users already.