Copenhagen, September 20, 2023 – Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (“IOH” or “Indosat”) will celebrate its 56th anniversary this year. Since officially operating as a newly merged entity on January 4, 2022, Indosat was born with the larger purpose to connect and empower the people of Indonesia by accelerating the nation’s digital transformation.

During this period, Indosat continues to prove itself to be the main driver of the telecommunications industry and GDP growth of Indonesia, ASEAN’s biggest digital economy leader. As one of the largest telcos in Indonesia, once again Indosat was invited to the Digital Transformation World (DTW) 2023 Ignite in Copenhagen share how it unleashes infinite possibilities in empowering Indonesia.

President Director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Vikram Sinha, said,  » Last year in DTW 2022, I shared the transformation journey of Indosat that begun in 2019 to set the context of our next journey. Entering the 2nd year after the merger, many initiatives have been carried out in Indosat’s efforts to meet our larger purpose. We express our gratitude for the support and trust of all parties so that Indosat can be the main part of increasing industry and Indonesia’s economic growth. »

Mergers have had a poor track record and it is not just limited to telecoms. Agencies’ rating put Indosat on negative watch and labeled its merger as a high execution risk that introduces uncertainties over future financial policies. Back then, Indosat must dealt with the adversity of people writing the Company off even before it got started.

Vikram explains further, “Indosat started this monumental mission with the fundamental premise that the Company was not only serving its shareholders. Success is about serving all stakeholders. It is good for everyone, for the nation as well. The goal is bigger to ensure Indosat has the support of everyone, from its customers, partners, investors, employees, and most importantly Indonesian people.”

With that stage set, Indosat is now ready as a company for the next stage. From integration to transformation. The difference between the telco and techco are pace of innovation, high growth opportunity, and agility to address opportunities in adjacencies. Indosat’s journey to techco is built on five pillars: Empowering Indonesia, Marvelous Experience, Innovation Engine, Digital Leadership, and Gotong Royong, an authentic Indonesia spirit which translate to passion of collaboration to achieve common goals.

The success of Indosat’s transition to TechCo will be measured on these five attributes: differentiated experience provider, grow adjacencies to over 20% of revenue, reduce cost to serve by an order of magnitude, grow enterprise business to 20% of total revenue, and generate 15 – 20% of revenues from services launched less than 5 years ago.

The challenge faced by Indosat would be can it make that transition to being an experience provider. Can Indosat take the conversation away from competing on price to selling on value.

“Serving a larger purpose, serving Indonesia is our infinite journey to TechCo. We humbly thank all our stakeholders for their support so that we managed to deliver on the promise. Seen as one of the largest telecom mergers in 2022, now Indosat is one of Global 10 telcos who have 100 million subs, in the 4th most populous country. The merger proved to be a great start to our journey ahead, and we will continue to focus.

Interview

On Day One of this year’s Connected Britain conference, we had the pleasure of speaking with Jamie Hayes, Managing Director of Fiber and Streetscape at Boldyn Networks, one of the world’s largest neutral host providers

We discussed the state of the connectivity landscape in the UK from a neutral host perspective, and the most important things that Boldyn Networks look for in the areas they work in: political leadership, advance supply, and demand. 

“Its great to see all the suppliers here, it’s a thriving ecosystem of startups through to large companies,” said Jamie,  

“An event like this [Connected Britain], a concentration of demand is vital for the places that we want to go to.” 

We also discussed the company’s work with the London boroughs, helping the city to access gigabit fibre and making the London underground safer through connectivity. 

Ending on the topic of local authorities and connectivity, Jamie noted: “we’d like to see more emphasis on connectivity, because it seems to have a real close correlation to many deprivation indexes like health, wealth, income, and inward investment.” 

You can watch the full interview below:

[embedded content]

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here     

Also in the news:
Stonepeak buys minority stake in Cellnex Nordics
Ericsson: We’re “exploding with use cases” for private 5G
Telefonica Germany partners with Skylo for satellite-supported IoT

News 

The newly formed entity is ‘strategically positioned to be a global leader in space communications’, according to the two companies 

Satellite operators Eutelsat communications and OneWeb have this week announced the completion of their $3.4 billion merger, following a Eutelsat shareholder meeting. 

The two companies have combined to form Eutelsat Group, which will be headquartered in Paris. OneWeb will become a subsidiary of the Group, operating as Eutelsat OneWeb, with its operations remaining in London. 

The merger will see OneWeb’s constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites added to Eutelsat’s geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites, creating the “only GEO–LEO operator in satellite communications that can offer a ubiquitous connectivity service,” according to Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke 

“This is an historic moment for the satellite industry. We are bringing together two businesses that are at the forefront of delivering integrated, seamless and reliable connectivity to customers worldwide,” said Dominique D’Hinnin, Chairman of the Board of Directors in a statement. 

“This exciting combination will be transformative for communities and businesses worldwide, utilising the unique blend of GEO and LEO technologies,” said Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Bharti Mittal, Vice-President of the Board of Directors. 

“Closing the digital divide is a critical mission for Eutelsat Group and the combination of these two businesses, which have each pursued this goal separately, accelerates our progress,”said Sunil Bharti Mittal Co-Chair of the Board of Directors. 

The UK government owns a minority stake in OneWeb, following a rescue deal in 2020 that prevented the firm’s collapse. According to a statement released last year after the Memorandum of Understanding between the two firms, the UK government will retain this special share in OneWeb and a number of exclusive rights. 

Upon the news, Eutelsat shares rose 3.5%. 

Competition in the space communications industry is increasing steadily, with analysts at Morgan Stanley estimating that the industry could be worth more than $1 trillion by 2040, up from a $550 billion today, as the industry becomes increasingly lucrative.  

Indeed, this is not the only major satellite merger we have seen this year, with global communications firm Viasat buying the UK’s Inmarsat for $6.2 billion back in May. 

“Satellite communications is a hugely significant and strategic global market for the U.K. space sector, now poised for an exciting next phase,” said George Freeman MP, the UK’s Minister of State at the Department of Science, Innovation & Technology. 

Mergers such as these could be set to provide significant competition for Elon Musk’s LEO constellation Starlink, which has quickly established itself as one of the world leading satellite internet providers. 

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here    

Also in the news:
Stonepeak buys minority stake in Cellnex Nordics
Telefonica Germany partners with Skylo for satellite-supported IoT
Ofcom unveils plan for mmWave spectrum auction 

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

News 

Reports emerged in July this year that Cellnex were considering selling a minority stake in its Nordic operations 

Investment company Stonepeak has acquired a 49% stake in Cellnex Nordics, which is comprised of Cellnex Sweden and Cellnex Denmark, in a €730 million deal. 

Cellnex will retain a 51% stake, continuing to run the day-to-day  operations of the Nordic division. Across both Denmark and Sweden, Cellnex has a network of 4,557 sites, and has commitments to build an additional 2,500. 

Cellnex will reportedly use the capital raised to reduce its debt, which stood at €17.1 billion at the end of last quarter. This strategy of cutting debt comes after years of rapid growth via various mergers and acquisitions, most notably the takeover of CK Hutchinson’s European towers in 2020, a deal worth around €10 billion. 

“The sale of a stake in our Nordic business at an appropriate valuation marks another significant step forward in our goal to attain investment grade ratings,” said Marco Patuano, Cellnex CEO, in a press release. 

“We believe Cellnex Nordics, as the region’s leading independent tower company, is strategically well positioned to capture outsized organic and inorganic growth over the coming years,” said Cyrus Gentry, Stonepeak’s Managing Director. 

“We view partnering with Cellnex, with its consistent track record of financial performance, execution on built-to-suit delivery, and mergers and acquisitions, as a natural fit for Stonepeak’s Core infrastructure strategy”. 

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year. 

Stonepeak have made a number of recent investments in the telecoms industry. Mosty recently, in August last year, the firm acquired 2,180 towers in the Philippines from Globe Telecom for $472 million. The company also acquired the Latin American business of Lumen Technologies for $2.7 billion last summer. 

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here     

Also in the news:
Ericsson: We’re “exploding with use cases” for private 5G
Telefonica Germany partners with Skylo for satellite-supported IoT
Ofcom unveils plan for mmWave spectrum auction 

With the introduction of our long awaited 7.0 product release, we want to showcase the newest features of Bicom Systems products and how they benefit your clients by streamlining their workload and improving overall team communication and collaboration capabilities.

The changes coming with these latest editions aim to equalize the features across all platforms and further improve deployment and information flow.

Let’s take a closer look at the many ways in which our 7.0 release assist your users.

SEE WHAT’S NEW IN 7.0 FIRSTHAND

PBXware

Meetings Made Easier To Manage With The Addition Of Meeting Co-organizers

The goal with 7.0 was to make PBXware easier to use and learn for all of its users and meetings can be challenging to moderate alone.

That’s why we have added the option to assign co-organizers to a scheduled meeting who gain access to similar features as the head organizer, allowing them to help keep the flow of the meeting for its duration.

And, in case the head organizer is unable to attend the meeting, the co-organizers can start the meeting in their stead.

This helps your users keep meetings organized and on time without having to reschedule.

Shortening The PBXware Learning Curve With Embedded Documentation

Another quality-of-life improvement that was brought to PBXware with the 7.0 release was the introduction of embedded documentation.

This allows new employees to familiarize themselves with PBXware’s toolset with ease by always having a more in-depth feature explanation attached.

It can also serve as a quick refresher for veteran users who may need a slight reminder of the full capabilities of a certain feature.

PBXware sipPROT Integration

With PBXware’s newest release, users can now manage their copy of sipPROT directly from PBXware implying they have a valid sipPROT license attached to your package.

While having sipPROT included in a PBXware install is nothing new, being able to access it from PBXware’s GUI will cut down on necessary setup time and remove the hassle of having to switch windows to do so.

A Final Goodbye To Dynamic Agents

Over the past few iterations of PBXware, we have slowly been phasing dynamic agents out in favor of callback ones.

This shift, ironically enough, makes taking calls more dynamic by providing agents the option to call customers back at a later time, helping improve campaign success rate.

gloCOM & gloCOM Meeting

SMS History Sync

The improvements for gloCOM in this release also focus on removing some unnecessary steps in user workflow and a couple of general quality of life features.

SMS history sync is one such feature as it syncs their SMS conversations up across devices, allowing users to have access to them no matter which device they log into gloCOM from.

This makes working out of office much less of a hurdle as all employees get to bring an extra part of their office with them.

The “Ask For Attention” Option For The Web and Mobile App

Communication infrastructure is a key aspect of any business and making sure things can go smoothly is one of its highest priorities.

The “Ask for attention” option helps promote this by allowing users to send a push notification to gloCOM web and mobile users if they require their feedback on an urgent matter.

It relays the importance of the issue to the recipient and makes it more likely for them to get a response out quicker.

The “Auto-Answer” Option

In order to allow workers to better focus on the task at hand, we have introduced the “auto-answer” feature on the desktop version of gloCOM, letting the gloCOM extension automatically answer an incoming call without forcing the user to tab out of their current work.

It lets employees focus on the work and talk to the person on the other end of the line, helping increase productivity in the workplace, allowing them to stay focused and not have to break their train of thought, letting them potentially finish their work earlier.

Saving Meeting Chat Histories

We have introduced the feature to record the audio and video of meetings, but now users will also be able to record the chat history of the meeting.

In case there was important correspondence in the chat that needed to be saved, it took an unnecessary amount of manual work to save potential document or site links or chat information by going through one chat bubble at a time.

Now, however, it can be saved with just a few button clicks in a more readable format.

The “Raise Hand” Feature

Interaction during meetings is important in order for it to not feel too one-sided and for participants to not feel like they’re just there to listen, but to have a chance at providing input.

The “raise hand” feature is our addition to the already existing interactive roster that gloCOM Meeting offers.

It allows participants to signal to the meeting organizer and his co-organizers that they want to comment on the topic at hand without disrupting the current speaker, providing more organization to the meetings and not making them go on for longer than they have to due to potential disarray.

In-meeting Reactions

Speaking of interaction, we have another treat for your users, one that helps express their feelings toward specific moments in the meeting, be it company or individual achievements or surprising news through the use of our in-meeting reactions.

It can help gauge overall participant reaction to particular suggestions which can help shape how said suggestion evolves in the future, if at all.

Plus, their colorful and animated nature can help boost spirits after a particularly long workday.

Added Noise Suppression To The Web App

Aside from different means of meeting interaction, we have also been hard at work helping improve overall voice quality by adding our noise suppression option for our gloCOM web users too, helping improve vocal clarity by filtering the potential background noises out.

Backwards Compatibility With Older Versions Of PBXware

Something that will be of great benefit to you and our other partners is the fact that both gloCOM and Communicator’s new releases are backwards compatible with older versions of PBXware if your clients still have not updated from a prior release.

This should make deployment to your user base a lot smoother with a lot less hassle on your end, allowing you to plan it ahead of time and with minimal effort on your end.

CCTV Camera Access

Last, but not least, business owners with a CCTV camera security system will now be able to access their CCTV camera feeds directly from their phones. All they’ll need is the specific camera’s URL to be able to access the corresponding feed.

And Much More…

The major changes are not the only things our teams have been hard at work on. There is a lot of background work here at play too which is aimed at improving overall service infrastructure and quality.

Some of the more particularly interesting ones would be:

• Improving voicemail support quality
• Bad connection indicators on the mobile app
• A font change for easier readability
• Streamlining the meeting experience by removing unnecessary screen clutter
• And many more minor quality of life improvements across the board

All changes which we hope will elevate user experience with our products, something which our teams will continue to work on to deliver an even better experience to your clients with our future releases.

Until then, we hope that you enjoy what we have brought along with the 7.0 release and that it helps improve the marketability of your product.

To find out more, we’re a click of a button away!

CONTACT US

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

News 

The auction is expected to begin in the final quarter of next year 

UK regulator Ofcom has confirmed plans to make mmWave spectrum in the 26GHz and 40GHz bands available for the nation’s mobile operators.  

In a statement released yesterday, Ofcom outlined its plans to auction 15-year fixed term licenses for 26GHz and 40GHz spectrum covering 68 UK towns and cities. There will also be an assignment of more localised licenses within these areas under the shared access licensing framework. 

But while Ofcom has now confirmed than an auction will be held for the spectrum, a timeline to do so is less clear, with regulator saying it will delay the process until after the UK Competition and Markets Authority makes a decision on the potential Vodafone–Three merger. 

Announced back in June, the merger would reduce the number of mobile players in the market from four to three, potentially giving the combined entity a significant advantage when it comes to spectrum holdings. As a result, Ofcom is looking to avoid giving away the mmWave spectrum early and exacerbating this disbalance.  

The design of the auction will be released later this year, with Ofcom expected to issue a statement and initiate a further consultation on the process. 

Mobile operators’ appetite for mmWave spectrum is likely to be mixed. These higher frequencies are  attractive due to their higher speeds and capacity, compared to low- and mid-band 5G spectrum, as well as being able to deliver lower latency.  However, these benefits come at the cost of high propagation losses and a relatively short effective range, making the spectrum broadly unsuitable for covering large areas in all but the most densely populated of locations.  

Instead, mmWave has proven much more suited to a number of more specific deployments, such as for private 5G mobile networks for industries and enterprises, and providing consumers with fixed wireless access broadband. 

Want to keep up to date with the latest developments in the world of telecoms? Subscriber to receive Total Telecom’s daily newsletter here    

Also in the news: 
Telekom Deutschland CFO Klaus Werner shifts to enterprise unit
Xavier Niel pledges €200m AI investment
Openreach CEO Clive Selley on the health of the UK broadband market 

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.