The big event FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia will be held soon. PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) has prepared a strengthened telecommunications and data network in all cities hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup. There are four cities that will be the location of the matches, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Surakarta and Surabaya. For this reason, XL Axiata has strengthened its network in advance, including by adding capacity and deploying mobile BTS (base transceiver station). This network strengthening step targets at least 16,000 BTS in four cities, including by deploying 3 units of mobile BTS.
Director & Chief Technology Officer of XL Axiata, I Gede Darmayusa said, "As part of the Indonesian community, XL Axiata is proud that our country has been entrusted to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Therefore, with great enthusiasm, we want to participate in the success of this big event by providing good quality telecommunications and data services. Of course, network strengthening is not only in the neighbourhood of the stadium, but also throughout the city. The assumption is that in addition to the delegation members of each team, there will also be tens of thousands of spectators, who will also enjoy the atmosphere of the city in addition to watching the match."
Gede also explained that network strengthening is not that difficult for XL Axiata because network strengthening is a routine program that is carried out gradually throughout XL Axiata's operational areas. Since the four cities where the FIFA U-17 World Cup is held are major cities in Java, the network quality in the four cities is already very good. However, to ensure that the existing network can cope with potential traffic spikes, XL Axiata continues to strengthen it by adding capacity up to 2 times the daily available capacity.
In addition, Gede is also confident that XL Axiata's network will be able to serve the needs during the FIFA U-17 World Cup in four cities with good quality, because in all four cities, the network fiberisation process has covered the majority of the existing BTS. Fiberisation itself is a network modernisation by connecting BTS through fibre lines, including regenerating BTS devices. For example, by replacing devices that have been using microwave to fibre devices. Fiberisation is carried out to improve data network quality and to prepare for 5G implementation in the future.
"We predict that there will be a potential traffic increase of up to 30% during the FIFA U-17 World Cup for almost a month. For this reason, XL Axiata has also specially prepared a team that will ensure network readiness during the event, both the team on standby at the network control centre at XL Axiata Tower Jakarta, as well as the team in the field who will always be on standby in the four cities where the matches are held," Gede added.
How does XL Axiata serve thousands of customers inside the stadium and at the same time overcome the potential for network congestion? The same thing often happens in a crowd that is concentrated in one place, such as at a music concert. In anticipation, XL Axiata has increased BTS capacity, deployed mobile BTS and optimised the network in 4 cities where the FIFA U-17 World Cup is held.
For XL Axiata, Gede added, the experience in providing a network for a major event of FIFA U-17 World Cup with the potential for high traffic spikes, will also be a very valuable learning event for all teams involved. This is very important because in the future, Indonesia will more often be the location of major world events that will be a magnet for tens or even hundreds of thousands of masses to come in one location.