Acting Chief Technology Officer XL Axiata, I Gede Darmayusa said, “For us, the most important matter was how to maintain good and smooth network performance while handling the surge in traffic during the holiday season. If the network has been secured, then customers would be satisfied and traffic would increase. This is the result of our continuous efforts in improving network quality, by increasing capacity, implementing the latest technology, to expanding 4G data network to new areas all across Indonesia. Therefore, in line with our prediction, areas outside of Java gave meaningful contribution to traffic increase this time. On average, traffic outside Java increased by up to 15%”.
Data from XL Axiata Customer Experience and Service Operation Center (CE&SOC) at XL Axiata Head Office show that special data traffic during Christmas increased by 9% on average compared to normal days, peaking at 21%. Meanwhile, during the New Year’s Eve alone, traffic increase was recorded at 14% on average and 77% at its peak.
The highest increase in traffic between December 23, 2019, to January 1, 2020, was recorded in three areas: Malang Regency, with an increase of 26%, Cianjur Regency with 26%, and Banyuwangi Regency with 25%. On Christmas days, December 24 to 25, 2019, regions with Christian communities such as Medan and its surrounding areas experienced a traffic increase of 10%, Manado 18%, and Kupang 21%. Meanwhile, data traffic in Jabodetabek area with many of its residents leaving town was down by around 5% compared to normal. During the Chirstmas and New Year holiday season, XL Axiata customers were also actively using data services while vacationing overseas, as seen in the increase of roaming traffic of 20% compared to normal.
Popular tourist destinations each recorded a spike in traffic, including Carita Beach by 200%, GWK Bali by 150%, and Gili Trawangan Lombok by 80%. In Labuhan Bajo, data services traffic rose by 10%, Ciater West Java by 235%, Indrayanti Beach Yogyakarta by 360%, and Jatim Park 2 Malang by 115%.
As for the types of data services that were most widely used, Youtube surged by up to 80% compared to normal, followed by WhatsApp, by 30%, Mobile Legends by 26%, and Instagram by 10%. Video and music streaming services were among favorites because they offer increasingly better experience. This is inseparable from the data network quality improvements that XL Axiata are implementing across Indonesia by, among others, fiberization to increase network capacity. Traffic of instant messenger services commonly used to send greetings increased by up up 16%.
To ensure readiness of its network, XL Axiata increased network capacity in around 1,500 BTS covering areas that could potentially experience traffic increase during Christmas and New Year holiday. These sites included the main land routes to holiday destinations, and around the tourism spots themselves. Some 30 Mobile BTS were also stationed in various locations in Sumatra, Jakarta, downtown Bandung, and also along the trans Jawa toll road network. Other network preparations included adjusting upstream internet traffic to Malaysia and Australia by 1,5x, and utilizing 2 exchanges in Singapore and Australia.
XL Axiata currently has 55,5 million customers, served by more than 129,261 BTS, including more than 53,000 3G BTS and more than 39,000 4G BTS. XL Axiata keeps expanding its 4G LTE network, which now covers more than 410 municipalities/ regencies across Indonesia. The company also continues to invest in fiber optics, transmission, backhaul, network modernization, and other network upgrades to improve the stability and capacity of networks and the quality of data service as data traffic increases.