Indosat Responds to XL Axiata-Smartfren Merger Issue: Three Operators Can Make the Industry Healthier

Liputan6.com, Jakarta – Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, the company resulting from the merger between Indosat Ooredoo and Hutchison 3 Indonesia, provided a response regarding the issue of the XL Axiata-Smartfren Telecom (Smartfren) merger.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison Director & Chief Business Officer Muhammad Buldansyah said that the telecommunications industry has a tight level of competition. Therefore, according to him, fewer players can make the telecommunications industry healthier.

Reflecting on the Minister of Communication and Information Budi Arie Setiadi's statement encouraging the consolidation of XL Axiata and Smartfren, Buldansyah said the sooner the better, if the two Indosat competitors decide to merge.

“The hope is that the best for them is that the sooner, perhaps the better. The minister has mentioned this several times,” said Buldansyah.

Talking about a healthier telecommunications industry, currently in Indonesia there are still four operators, all competing to find as many customers as possible.

The man who is familiarly called Danny said that in the past, the large number of operators made competition to win customers' hearts through tariff wars a common thing.

“If one operator starts a price war, the others will definitely join in. Now (with only four operators), it's better than three or four years ago, because at that time if operators didn't start a price war it was quite difficult in the market,” said Buldansyah on the sidelines of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison's Iftar with the Media, in Jakarta, Wednesday (3/4/2024).

The growth of Indonesia's digital economy certainly cannot be separated from the involvement of the right parties. Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison is also collaborating with a technology industry company from China, Huawei, to develop innovations based on artificial intelligence…