Kupang, 28 August 2023. PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) continues to support the government's vision of accelerating national development through equal distribution of telecommunication and data network infrastructure throughout Indonesia. Specifically in the Province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), in the past 1 year, XL Axiata has been intensively building a 4G network, including adding more than 120 4G BTS, to remote rural areas and small islands that were previously unreachable. One of them is Alor Island. Now XL Axiata's 4G network in NTT is supported by more than 850 4G BTS units. Of the total districts in NTT, around 188 districts in 22 cities/regencies, or 60% have been served by the 4G network.
XL Axiata’s Regional Group Head of East Region, Dodik Ariyanto said, "With the availability of 4G networks on these remote islands, the productivity of the local community can be further boosted. In addition, the public can also enjoy digital services; whether it is in banking, health, social security, and education services. Therefore, we are always passionate about providing qualified telecommunications and data services for remote area communities so that they can share in the benefits of national development.”
According to Dodik, Alor Island and its surroundings are one of the targets for strengthening the 4G network in NTT in line with XL Axiata's commitment to participate in driving the wheels of the economy in remote areas through the provision of digital facilities and fast internet. This network has been operating since October 2018. Apart from Alor, XL Axiata's 4G network also covers other islands, such as the islands of Flores, Sumba, Lembata, and Timor to the island of Rote.
Meanwhile, the Head of Network Operations of XL Axiata’s East Region, Mochamad Irwan Harahap, said that the XL Axiata network on Alor Island is supported by 30 4G BTS units. Each BTS can serve a maximum of up to 400 customers at the same time and has coverage within a radius of up to 2 km. Since starting operations in October 2018, data service traffic on Alor Island has continued to increase. In the last 2 years, traffic has increased by 16%.
In recent years, XL Axiata has also been aggressively building a backbone network through fiber optic cable lines in the province of NTT, until now XL Axiata has more than 1,100 km of fiber optic cable lines that have passed through the NTT Province including routes that pass through the Alor Regency. With the existence of the XL Axiata network in Alor Regency, it is hoped that it can increase community productivity by utilizing telecommunications technology.
USO and Non 3T Network
Meanwhile, to meet the needs of the people in remote areas of NTT who were previously unreachable by telecommunication and data access networks, since 2018, XL Axiata has also operated the USO network in collaboration with the Indonesian Telecommunications Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) and the Ministry of Communication and Informatics as many as 32 4G BTS Sites. The USO network points managed by XL Axiata are located in Kupang Regency, South Central Timor Regency, Central Sumba Regency, Alor Regency, East Manggarai Regency, Lembata Regency, Ende Regency, Sabu Raijua Regency, Malacca Regency.
Not only the USO network, XL Axiata also supports government programs in an effort to equalize data services through the Non 3T network program. Until now, XL Axiata has also operated a Non-3T network of 42 BTS in NTT, which are in Sikka Regency, East Flores Regency, and Ngada Regency.
Currently, fiberization in NTT has reached 33% of the total existing 4G BTS. Specifically for BTS in the capital city of NTT province, City of Kupang, fiberization has reached 100%. Of the total XL Axiata customers in NTT, 90% of them are customers who actively use XL Axiata data.
XL Axiata has been present in NTT since 2017, and until now the 4G network has been present in 22 cities/regencies, with a total support of more than 850 4G BTS out of a total of 1,700 BTS. The cities/regencies that have been served by the 4G network are Alor, Belu, Ende, East Flores, Kupang City, Kupang, Lembata, Manggarai, West Manggarai, East Manggarai, Nagekeo Ngada, Rote Ndao, Sikka, West Sumba, East Sumba, South Central Timor, North Central Timor, Sabu Raijua, Southwest Sumba, Malacca, and Central Sumba.