Jakarta, 24 February 2022. PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) continues to improve the quality of the data network in order to keep pace with the increasing traffic usage by subscribers from year to year. To ensure quality network needs are met in 2022, XL Axiata management has set a focus on network development, namely increasing capacity and efficiency to provide a better customer experience. A number of initiatives have been implemented since the beginning of this year to realize this goal.
Director & Chief Technology Officer of XL Axiata, I Gede Darmayusa said, "Providing a better customer experience is our top priority. Therefore, we continue to carry out various efforts and initiatives consistently to achieve this, because we believe that the quality of the network that continues to be improved will make customers more comfortable and stay longer in using the services we provide.”
Gede added, every year the need for data connectivity continues to increase. This is driven by the continued increase in internet service users. Data shows that 73.7% of Indonesia's population currently has access to the internet, with an average surfing time of 9 hours per day. A total of 61.8% of the population also actively uses social media, with an average access time of about 7.5 hours per day.
The digital lifestyle has indeed become a major need for XL Axiata subscribers and the Indonesian people in general. Because of this, they become more sensitive to their digital experience, such as inadequate internet access speed, low signal quality in the room, to frequent connection jams when playing games or accessing entertainment content.
Gede also mentioned, to focus on developing the XL Axiata network in 2022, a number of initiatives have been carried out since the beginning of 2022 covering several aspects. First, improving customer experience. For this purpose, the application of intelligence and automation is carried out to improve network capabilities, which include automation in network configuration, optimization, self-diagnostic, and network recovery. In addition, XL Axiata has also implemented automated optimization for VoLTE services, as well as value-based planning tools that involve several strategic business aspects in network planning.
With the application of intelligence and automation, XL Axiata can improve network quality and efficiency faster, where intelligence and automation is applied to the planning process up to network operation.
The second aspect is to provide a digital service experience that is more in line with the needs of the community, such as providing integrated services for mobile consumers and the home as well as providing network capacity according to the needs of each area.
The third aspect is reliable service experience, where for this aspect, XL Axiata targets 100% availability by adding 12,000 LTE 900 BTS covering 343 cities, and adding 100 5G BTS in 3 cities. In addition, XL Axiata also added 2 core locations, 6,000 fiberization sites and an additional 20,000 km of fiber to ensure a real-time high-performance, lag-free experience for subscribers.
In 2022, XL Axiata will also continue to prepare network infrastructure to support 5G services. One of the most important and major milestones is ensuring spectrum and device availability. Earlier this year, XL Axiata conducted a 5G co-existency trial and Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS) to ensure the potential utilization of 3.5GHz spectrum for 5G. One of the trials has been carried out in the area around the Mandalika Circuit, Lombok. Another trial was conducted with BRI and Telkom University.
XL Axiata will also support the government's efforts to prove Indonesia's readiness to deploy high-speed broadband connectivity, namely 5G, and is expected to encourage the growth of its supporting devices. The implementation of this program, among others, will be carried out at the G20 event which will be held in a number of tourist areas, including Lake Toba, Bali, Mandalika, and Labuhan Bajo.
Network implementation in 2021
Improvements in network quality that have been carried out by XL Axiata throughout 2021, among others, have succeeded in strengthening 4G network coverage which reaches 96% of Indonesia's population in 458 cities/regencies, supported by more than 77 thousand 4G BTS. In addition, network capacity also continues to increase, where by the end of last year, the fiberization process had reached 50% of the total sites in cities that were the focus of XL's fiberization and an additional 113 thousand km of fiber network.
"We are also presenting a limited 5G network in a number of cities to further introduce the latest telecommunications technology to subscribers and the public. There are 16 5G experience points in 12 main cities, which received quite an enthusiastic response from the public," added Gede.
With efforts to improve network quality so far, XL Axiata has succeeded in providing faster internet services every year. In 2021, from the first to the fourth quarter, the average speed of internet access will increase by about 24%. In the same period, the improvement in latency rate also increased by about 17%.
Last year, XL Axiata also rearranged 3G technology to improve network quality and broadband services. This is at the same time to support the government policies related to spectrum efficiency for data networks. Until the end of 2021, the termination of 3G services had been carried out in 22 cities and LTE capacity was added to 22 thousand towers in 408 cities. Furthermore, in the first quarter of 2022, it is targeted that 3G services have been discontinued in all cities so that 4G capacity can be further increased.
Along with the 3G sunset activity, XL Axiata has also activated its VoLTE service. This VoLTE service traffic has grown by around 60% during the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2021. This fairly rapid growth in usage also indicates the increasing convenience of XL Axiata subscribers in using VoLTE services, along with the improvement in network quality.
In order to provide more effective services, XL Axiata also carries out digital transformation in network planning and operations. A number of initiatives that have been implemented are mainly the implementation of Network inventory management system, Integrated network monitoring dashboard, as well as network planning based on crowd sourcing insight and advanced market analytics.
Last year, XL Axiata also continued to expand its reach to the outermost areas to support the government in its efforts to equalize the digital economy. In collaboration with BAKTI, XL Axiata provides 4G broadband telecommunication services for 132 villages in Sumatra with categories for foremost, outermost, and underdeveloped (3T) areas. Meanwhile, for non-3T areas, until the end of last year, XL Axiata had delivered 4G broadband services in 96 villages spread across Sumatra, Java, Bali, West and East Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. Construction of all non-3T areas that are XL Axiata's obligations are targeted to be completed by the end of 2022.