Jakarta, 8 May 2022. PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) recorded an increase in data usage traffic during the Eid 1443 H holiday, between April 24 - May 7 2022. Data from the Customer Experience & Service Operation Center (CESOC) located at XL Axiata Tower, Jakarta, showed an increase in data service traffic nationally by 33% higher than the Lebaran period the previous year, and 11% compared to normal days before Ramadan. The surge in traffic is inseparable from the permission of the public to travel back and forth and on vacation, after two years previously it was prohibited due to the pandemic.
"After two Eids, most people cannot travel back and forth to their hometowns," said I Gede Darmayusa, Director & Chief Technology Officer of XL Axiata. "This year's Eid is filled with the euphoric atmosphere of people in various regions. We can see this, for example, in the huge growth in data traffic as well as data on the dynamic movement of individuals from one location to another. Access to video streaming services through social media is also quite high, which shows the enthusiasm of the community to share joy with each other. We at XL Axiata are grateful to be able to provide maximum service to customers during this joyful holiday period.”
Gede added, the pattern of using various types of data services by XL Axiata customers during the Lebaran holiday can illustrate the Indonesian people in utilizing digital facilities for various daily needs. Streaming, which accounted for 52% of national data service traffic during Ramadan and Eid, was followed by social networks, which accounted for 42%. In this streaming service, a number of applications experienced a significant increase in usage traffic, such as game-based services experiencing an average traffic increase of up to 66%, Netflix up 16%, YouTube up 40%, TikTok up 76%, Spotify up 21%, and Vidio relatively stable.
For Instant Messenger services, nationwide traffic using WhatsApp services increased by 38%. Meanwhile, on Social Network services, Twitter traffic increased by 29% and Meta (Facebook) 38%. Other services also experienced an increase in traffic, including online shopping through e-commerce which increased by 23%, while web browsing rose by 36%. For the Zoom video conference service, although it seems that the community is starting to use it to keep in touch, because there are school holidays and employee leave, the traffic usage is relatively stagnant and tends to decrease. For map services or road route pointers such as Google Map and Waze, it is quite widely accessed by people who travel, which is an increase of about 48% compared to normal days.
Meanwhile, SMS and voice telecommunications services experienced an increase/decrease by +6% and -3% respectively compared to normal days. On the other hand, the substitute for voice services, namely VoLTE, experienced a significant increase of up to 13% compared to normal days. Data-based VoLTE services have the same functions as voice, with the advantage of voice clarity, and can be performed simultaneously with access to other data services. In terms of cost, customers also don't need to pay separately, just use the data package they have.
From the region, the increase in data service traffic nationally during Ramadan and Eid compared to the previous normal day traffic, respectively, occurred in Central Java with an increase of 23%, East Java 24%, and West Java 20%. Outside of Java, data traffic usage in the Northern Sumatra region on average increased by 21%, Southern Sumatra 17%, Kalimantan 17%, Sulawesi 14%, Bali-Lombok-Sumbawa 19%. Meanwhile, from the city/district area, nationally, the five cities/districts with the highest traffic increase were Kab. Sampang increased by 41%, Kab. Bangkalan increased by 39%, Kab. Central Lombok increased by 35%, Kab. Brebes rose by 33%, and Kab. Purwakarta rose by 25%.
XL Home/XL ONE Fiber Traffic
Interesting data regarding service traffic during Ramadan and Lebaran also occurred in the XL Home/XL SATU Fiber convergence service, where nationally there was a 4% decrease in traffic compared to normal days or an increase of 20% compared to the same period last year. Although this year's Lebaran, many families travel back and forth, as a home internet service that is intended for the family segment, access to wifi based on fixed internet services continues to increase.
The increase in XL Home traffic is inseparable from the continued increase in the number of customers nationally in the last one year period by around 19%. Currently, the total number of XL Home subscribers reaches more than 100 thousand with coverage of more than 658 thousand home-passed. The increase in usage traffic has begun to be seen since entering Ramadan and before Eid al-Fitr, access to internet services has decreased slightly because customers carry out homecoming mobility," added Gede
Overall, to ensure network readiness to meet customer needs during this year's Eid, XL Axiata has increased network capacity by up to 2x compared to normal days. Network monitoring procedures are carried out as much as possible. The deployment of mobile BTS is also being prepared to strengthen the quality of the network in locations where it is needed.