JAKARTA – PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi Tbk (MTEL), also known as Mitratel, does not seem bothered with Starlink entering Indonesia’s premises, and is reported to have agreed upon partnership with this satellite connection provider owned by Elon Musk.

Through Telkomsat, Mitratel’s sister company under PT Telkom Indonesia Tbk (TLKM) engaged in satellite service provider, Mitratel will enter an exclusive collaboration with Starlink and utilise this global company as its backhaul media.

The management also mentioned that the utilisation of Starlink will be more beneficial in remote areas, in which fibre optic extension is deemed more difficult, costly, and might not be utilised by many.

“With our partnership with Starlink, we can build towers, and operators can build their BTS. In order to connect those BTS to network or backbone, instead of fibre optic, we will use Starlink,” said Hendra Purnama, Director of Investment of MTEL.

According to Annual Public Expose of MTEL last Friday (31/5), Mitratel recorded 38,135 towers erected by Q1 2024, a 4.7% year-on-year (yoy) increase, in which the highest growth was seen in Bali and Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, and Sumatra.

As of Q1 2024, there have been 15,825 towers in Java or 41% of total tower portfolio, while outside Java covers the remaining 59% with total 22,310 towers.

“Demands for towers outside Java has indeed become more massive; one of the reasons is this collaboration. So, it will not reduce Mitratel’s market share, but instead offer an opportunity for us to expand to inaccessible areas,” added Agus Winarno, Director of MTEL.

Regarding expansion, MTEL is planning to extend its fibre optic network by 10 thousand km, as well as 4 thousand tenants. Setting the capital expenditure budget to IDR 5.6 trillion, MTEL is projected to secure external fundings, albeit the means has yet to be decided. (ZH)