Indosat and Huawei have partnered to focus on network infrastructure, network operations and talent cultivation. Vikram Sinha, President Director and Chief Executive Officer of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, discusses the company’s strategic vision for empowering Indonesia and how it is committed to addressing challenges by investing in advanced network infrastructure, deploying state-of-the-art technologies and forming strategic partnerships.
How would you describe Indonesia’s current connectivity capabilities and how can this be improved?
Indonesia has made significant strides in improving connectivity, particularly in urban areas. However, there remain challenges in ensuring robust and reliable connectivity across rural and remote regions. Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (Indosat or IOH) is committed to addressing these challenges by investing in advanced network infrastructure, deploying state-of-the-art technologies and forming strategic partnerships. Our newly inaugurated Digital Intelligence Operations Center (DIOC) is a key part of this strategy, enabling us to optimise network performance and deliver consistent, high-quality service to all Indonesians.
How will Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver exceptional service to more than 100 million customers across Indonesia?
Indosat has a larger purpose: empowering Indonesia. AI can play a pivotal role in advancing Indonesia by unleashing the innovation and creativity of Indonesian businesses. AI has become Indosat’s guiding North Star and we are embedding AI into our core to deliver better, hyper-personalised experiences for our customers. In addition, we are transforming into an AI-native TechCo to deliver new AI-based business lines and acting as an AI nation shaper to deliver on our mission to connect and empower every Indonesian through digitalisation. With these goals in mind, Indosat has signed strategic partnerships with global leading technology companies. Through this agreement we are helping to democratise access to AI, making them accessible to businesses across Indonesia and the region, and accelerating the growth of Indonesia’s digital economy.
What does this strategic collaboration between IOH and Huawei mean for future progressional opportunities and how will your customers benefit?
Indosat’s implementation of network transformation strategies and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies through strong collaboration with global partners, like Huawei, is critical to provide excellent experiences to our customers. Indosat and Huawei have embarked on a journey to deepen cooperation, focusing on network infrastructure, network operations and talent cultivation. Our new Digital Intelligence Operations Center, built in partnership with Huawei, is another step forward on this journey and embodies our ambition of becoming an Intelligence Native Telco. In partnership with Huawei, we aim to put cutting-edge technology at the core of our operations and redefine the way we serve our customers through new innovative digital-led solutions.
How far do you agree that this development will serve as a catalyst for propelling Indonesia’s digital future and can you be specific as to how?
In collaboration with Huawei, Indosat has completed experience-centric network consolidation since the merger of Indosat Ooredoo and Hutchison 3 Indonesia and significantly improved network quality and user experience. Independent third-party testing has shown Indosat has achieved substantial improvements in download speed year-on-year (YoY), including increases of 44.1% YoY in rural areas, 43.5% YoY in urban areas and 43.9% YoY in suburban areas. This has contributed significantly to higher customer satisfaction and network performance. At the same time, Indosat has expanded our network to cover an additional 12.7 million people. Through this fast and reliable connectivity, Indosat is providing the backbone that is empowering Indonesia’s digital economy to thrive.
Tell us how the Digital Intelligence Operations Center will serve as the nerve centre of Indosat’s network operations?
The DIOC has new advanced functionalities such as Real-time Network Insights, enabling Indosat to shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive service management, leveraging real-time data to optimise network performance and reliability. The DIOC also provides comprehensive End-to-End Service Management of all services, including performance, application experience and quality, which empowers Indosat to swiftly resolve customer issues and enhance satisfaction. In the end, the ability of DIOC to integrate data analysis and cutting-edge technologies can fuel continuous Data-Driven Innovation, which enables Indosat to develop new customer-centric products and services, leading the way in digital service advancements.
How do you ensure cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions remain at the core of your operations?
At Indosat, we have embarked on our journey from a traditional telco to an AI-native TechCo. This means we are transforming from a company that only provides connectivity to one that leverages new technologies — cloud, AI and cybersecurity — and partners with global technology companies to offer digital services and experiences on top of our connectivity and to drive the productivity of our operations. Our focus on data analytics and AI is not just a strategic move, but a commitment to our more than 100 million customers. We believe that these technologies are foundational elements for enhancing their experience. Hence, we are spearheading the democratisation of data access, a step that will significantly improve our service and customer experience, while ensuring robust security measures are in place, as our top priority.
How are you improving network performance and redefining the way you serve your customers?
First and foremost, nowadays, getting good connectivity is vital. Connectivity is the core of our business and provides the backbone for Indonesia’s digital economy. One of our biggest challenges as a leading digital telco in Indonesia is to expand network infrastructure to rural areas so that villages are served just as well as cities. Over the next four years, the expansion of Indonesia’s 4G network is expected to connect 23 million more Indonesians – the equivalent of Australia’s entire population.
Since our merger in January 2022, we have leveraged our scale and resources to expedite the growth of our 4G network in rural areas, thereby enhancing our network quality and speed and delivering an even better customer experience. In 2023, we made a substantial investment of approximately $800 million in capital expenditure, with a significant portion, around 60%, dedicated to fortifying our network in rural Indonesia. We expect to continue this level of investment in 2024.
How do you plan to nurture innovation and remain committed to catalysing Indonesia’s digital future?
Indosat plans to establish an AI Center of Excellence, focusing on AI-cloud infrastructure and developing human capital in AI. I am a big believer in the need to develop Indonesia’s human capital and think every dollar invested in technology needs to be matched by a dollar invested in training and development. With this goal in mind, we are supporting a range of digital training initiatives through our own programmes like IDCamp and SheHacks, and via partnerships with international organisations like ITU and Cisco.
One area I am particularly excited about is Indosat partnering with a tech giant to build the first LLM in the Indonesian language, named Sahabat-AI. This is a unique, first-of-its-kind, Bahasa Indonesia LLM foundational model. It will be deployed in local servers to support national AI use cases and make
GenAI accessible to millions of Indonesians in their native language. These investments in Indonesia’s human capital and technology capabilities are more than just good business, they are about contributing to the development of a truly digital nation in Indonesia.
By democratising access to AI and bringing digital skills to Indonesia, we are unlocking infinite possibilities and potential of every Indonesian and every business, creating jobs and fostering opportunities for all Indonesians.
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