Jakarta, February 9th 2021. PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) has prepared a network to support the convenience of community activities to welcome the 2021 Imlek New Year celebration. Even though it is in a pandemic situation, XL Axiata estimates that nationally there will be an increase in data traffic of around 5% compared to normal days. This increase in traffic is predicted to occur in several cities with the largest concentration of Imlek New Year celebrations in Indonesia. Director & Chief Technology Officer of XL Axiata, I Gede Darmayusa stated, "To support the community’s convenience during this year's Imlek New Year, we are still making a series of preparations, even though the potential for increased traffic that occurs is relatively low. We have prepared a network capacity of up to two times. The increase in traffic will mostly occur in data services, while the potential increase in voice service traffic is estimated at only 2%. Meanwhile, the SMS service will not increase. Compared to the previous year's celebration, this year's data consumption is predicted will be larger due to changes in the pattern of people's activities during the pandemic, which spend more time at home." Just like the previous year, the increase in traffic this year is predicted to occur in several cities that are the centres of the biggest Imlek New Year celebrations in Indonesia, including in Singkawang, Pontianak, Medan, Semarang, Bandung and Jakarta. In terms of service type, streaming service traffic is generally predicted to increase by around 5-10%. In addition, services such as Video Conference Calls, Online Games, Web Browsing, and Instant Messaging (IM) will also experience increase. This is inseparable from the subscribers and community activities that are still being carried out from home to avoid exposure to Covid-19. An increase in data user traffic is expected to occur in several buffer areas in Central Java, namely Jepara, Pati, Kudus, Grobogan, and Karanganyar Regencies. In addition, the same increase is predicted to occur in Serdang Bedagai and Simalungun Regencies in North Sumatra. "We estimate that the biggest increase in traffic will occur in residential areas considering that we are still in a pandemic situation and are still prone to natural disasters. Until now, the rainfall is still high and has caused floods and landslides in various areas. Natural disasters have been recorded several times since January 2021. Apart from ensuring the best services for facing the Imlek New Year this year, we will also continue to monitor and pay more attention to a number of disaster-prone areas in Indonesia,” explained Gede further. During the Imlek New Year celebration, XL Axiata will pay full attention to the quality of network in a number of residential areas and shopping centres. In addition, a number of anticipations to deal with natural disaster emergencies also have been prepared. These anticipatory steps include preparing generators complete with fuel in disaster-prone areas, as well as readiness to carry out network transfer engineering in disturbed areas. Meanwhile, in order to serve subscribers who need service support during the Imlek New Year celebration, XL Axiata's customer service team is also ready. Subscribers can contact call centre officers 24 hours, via 817, 818 and 838 as well as digital-based service channels, namely @myXLCare for twitter and Facebook Page, live chat at www.xl.co.id, and email [email protected]. For axis card subscribers, you can also go to @ask_AXIS for twitter, live chat at www.axis.co.id and email [email protected].