Kominfo wants Indonesia’s 5G coverage in 2025 to match 4G today

kominfo 5G indonesia
Image by Anton Medvedev | Bigstockphoto

As the Indonesian government speeds up 4G implementation, they are also aiming for 5G networks to be evenly distributed across the archipelago by 2025, according to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Kominfo).

5G was commercially launched in Indonesia last year with Indosat Ooredoo and state-owned Telkomsel the first out of the gate, albeit on a limited basis. In August 2021, Indosat Ooredoo launched commercial 5G services in Jakarta to help speed up its digital transformation and smart city plan. Rival mobile operators XL Axiata and Smartfren have been trialing 5G in the meantime.

Ismail, Director General of Frequency Spectrum Management and IT Equipment Standards at Kominfo, said that despite 5G’s limited start in Indonesia, the ministry expects that 5G will be implemented faster than the time it has taken operators to deploy 4G, which has been running for more than six years now.

“We hope that from 2024 to 2025, 5G will be able to expand and be evenly distributed, as is the case with 4G now,” he said.

Communications and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate talked up Indonesia’s 5G ambitions on Tuesday at the Pertamina Mandalika race track while promoting the government’s 5G Experience and Showcase, which aims to provide 5G experiences to racing fans at next month’s Indonesia Grand Prix. Kominfo Plate said that while 4G will remain the backbone of communications for some time, there is already demand for 5G connectivity.

According to OpenGovAsia, Indonesia has the potential to become Southeast Asia’s largest 5G market, driven by use cases such as smart factories and digital-based agricultural enterprises, as well as the opening of the planned new capital city of Nusantara in East Kalimantan, which is being designed as a smart city with 5G connectivity.

Other countries in the region, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, are also rapidly deploying 5G technologies to catch up with the growing demand for speed. In 2021, 25% of smartphone shipments to Southeast Asia were composed of 5G-ready units, up from just 5% in 2020.

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