Desmond Cheung is the Chief Technology Officer of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison. Desmond began his cell communication profession from the analog mobile methods within the early Nineteen Nineties. Prior to becoming a member of Indosat Ooredoo in January 2022, Desmond has labored with many organisations in management positions. From 2010 to 2015, he was the CTO at Hutchison cell community in Vietnam. In 2015, he took over because the CTO for Hutchison 3 Indonesia.

In an unique interplay with us, Desmond shares his ideas on among the tech traits dominating the telecom sector in Indonesia and main traits that will probably be most distinguished in Indonesia’s telecom sector for 2023.

What are among the tech traits dominating the telecom sector in Indonesia?

First of all, there’s a rising telecom market. Indonesia is without doubt one of the largest markets in Asia, with a inhabitants of 278 million. The Ministry of Finance predicts that Indonesia’s financial system may achieve as a lot $2.8 trillion by 2040 by know-how adoption together with the telecom business. As one of many quickest growing telecommunications markets on this planet, the Indonesian telecom business is pushed by progress in each cell and stuck broadband subscriptions. We count on the competitors in cell community operators, particularly buyer acquisition, to stay intense, as Indonesia’s pay as you go subscribers dominate the market.

Secondly, cell broadband customers are nonetheless dominating, however there are alternatives within the mounted broadband market. The knowledge site visitors continues to be dominated by cell broadband because the penetration charge for cell broadband considerably exceeds the mounted broadband. Because the cell broadband pricing in Indonesia was among the many lowest on this planet despite the fact that Indonesia is without doubt one of the world’s largest telecommunications markets. In distinction, mounted broadband pricing is comparatively excessive in comparison with Indonesian households’ common month-to-month expenditure per capita. We think about an reasonably priced knowledge tariff contributes to excessive knowledge consumption, as telecommunication has change into one of many folks’s fundamental wants these days. On the opposite hand, we’re additionally strengthening our mounted broadband presence in Indonesia.

Thirdly, the telco business helps digitalisation. Indonesia is gaining its momentum because the quickest nation to expertise progress in its digital financial system and business 4.0 in Southeast Asia. The telecommunications business is rising and remodeling quickly to assist digitalisation and assist the nation’s financial system to get well quicker. This is the place telco operators play an important function to make sure folks keep linked and have a seamless digital expertise.

Post Covid, we see the development of shifting from offline to on-line actions will proceed. We count on the surge in broadband knowledge site visitors will proceed, given the rising 4G subscribers, reasonably priced knowledge tariffs, cell handsets, and gamers’ investments in capability networks.

The subsequent development is with 4G increasing all over the place, it’s time to put together for 5G. The 4G community is probably the most broadly used amongst shoppers in the present day. We are glad to share that now IOH already covers nearly 90% of the inhabitants with 4G protection. Moreover, Indonesia’s telco is focusing their efforts to reframe 3G to 4G to higher utilise the spectrum and can then give attention to 5G improvement.

The fifth development is constructing the 5G use-case. We are within the midst of discovering the perfect 5G use instances for the nation these days. IOH has partnered with totally different sectors, i.e., manufacturing and training sector; additionally world companions that can assist Indonesia to utilise and produce the advantage of 5G know-how in collaboration with world companions like Google. In Indonesia, it’s only the start and we imagine it’s in regards to the 5G use-case realisation recreation from subsequent yr onwards.

What are among the challenges going through the telecom sector within the nation?

We want a sustainable mannequin to convey a seamless expertise to the nation, as Indonesia has one of the crucial distinctive and difficult markets attributable to its geographical landscapes. The telco business requires excessive CAPEX funding to enhance community expertise inside this geographical situation.

Moreover, probably the most important problem for operators is how you can utilise 5G service to its optimum to empower enterprise and prospects, however on the similar time additionally allow it to be worthwhile for the telecoms firm. Therefore, IOH tried to foster 5G finest practices by numerous use instances in a number of cities to analysis for maximising the potential use in Indonesia.

What are a few of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison’s main challenges this yr?

Our largest problem is to maintain bettering ourselves so we will accomplish our mission to ship a world-class digital expertise, connecting, and empowering each Indonesian. Moving ahead, we goal to maintain delivering easy, clear, and related services and products.

Here are another our main issues:

Customer Experience Excellence: We perceive that prospects don’t have to know which spectrum or know-how they use on their digital actions. As lengthy as they’re experiencing clean video streaming, video convention, or on-line gaming with none lag, implies that we received their coronary heart. Unfortunately, Indonesia’s tariff is without doubt one of the lowest within the area. So, we want a more healthy marketplace for operators to have the ability to make investments extra to beat Indonesia’s geographic situation and challenges for protection, transmission connectivity, new applied sciences, and affordable spectrum price.

Ecosystem for Digitalisation & 5G: Everyone is saying that 5G is the way forward for the telecom business. More than simply velocity, 5G will present a platform for unlocking many inventions and alternatives to enhance societies and the financial system. Together with the regulator and different telco business gamers, we have to speed up the ecosystem readiness that consists of Device, Network, and Application, whereas getting ready Indonesia’s human sources to adapt with the long run improvement. IOH will proceed to assist this 5G revolution in Indonesia by offering connectivity and digitalisation within the cities with excessive demand and readiness.

Energy-efficient options: We want to offer electrical energy to each our primarily based station websites in addition to our knowledge facilities. As site visitors payload will increase, power utilization additionally will increase, impacting our value in addition to our carbon footprint. Therefore, we all the time attempt to seek out modern power environment friendly options that will permit higher efficiency whereas consuming much less energy for extra sustainable enterprise. It may also save the folks and the planet within the long-term.

What do you suppose are among the tech traits that will probably be most distinguished in Indonesia’s telecom sector for 2023?

When it involves 2023, we count on a surge in broadband knowledge site visitors will proceed subsequent yr, given the rising 3G/4G subscribers, reasonably priced knowledge tariff and cell handsets, gamers’ investments in capability networks, and the development of shifting from offline to on-line actions.

A more healthy telco business is one other development we foresee. A more healthy enterprise competitors setting for operators to focus extra on buyer expertise, product and repair as a substitute of worth. This is constructive for telco operators as at the moment the surge in knowledge site visitors didn’t optimally compensate for his or her heavy capex. The cell broadband pricing in Indonesia was twice decrease than that in Malaysia, and among the many lowest on this planet. In distinction, mounted broadband pricing is comparatively excessive at USD 34.81/5 GB, in comparison with Indonesian households’ common month-to-month expenditure per capita of USD 82.82.

Lastly, 5G will probably be a serious development. The huge deployment of 5G ought to go hand in hand with the ecosystem maturity.

We hope the introduction of 5G know-how will provide huge alternatives to assist digital transformation throughout industries and markets. I imagine 5G can have a huge impact on Indonesians’ day-to-day digital life and enterprise actions by offering an enhanced buyer expertise. 5G will probably be one of many enablers of digital transformation, together with IoT, Big Data, Cloud, AI and Automation, to reinforce the cell broadband expertise, potential incremental rise in productiveness, the emergence of latest enterprise improvements, and additional developments within the fourth industrial revolution.

Your one piece of recommendation to CTOs relating to constructing digital resilience in organisations.

My one piece of recommendation is to embrace it for the chance to set the suitable precedence to sort out probably the most impactful disruption dangers. Based on the 80-20 rule, coupled along with zero belief safety and different anti-data theft methods, CTOs can construct digital resilience in an organisation shortly.