Indonesia-based mobile telecommunications services operator XL Axiata said that it has started operating a 4G network spread across 14 districts in Maluku and 10 districts in Papua and West Papua.
Deployed under the government-mandated universal services obligation (USO) initiative, XL has installed 4G base stations in remote areas that are ‘difficult to reach from the centre of government, either in the regency or province’.
"The operation of the USO BTS, which started in December 2019 and continues to expand throughout 2020, is part of the implementation of XL Axiata's commitment to enter the age of 25 to Build a Digital Indonesia," said a press note from the second-largest mobile telecommunications company in Indonesia.
Director & Chief Technology Officer of XL Axiata, I Gede Darmayusa said, "Utilising the USO program, we are trying to help provide 4G networks to remote areas in 14 regencies in the very vast Maluku Islands, starting from Halmahera in North, Central Maluku, to the Aru Islands in the South. In addition, we have also started to serve 10 regencies in Papua and West Papua which on average have difficult terrain. Hopefully, the existence of hundreds of 4G network infrastructure will be able to encourage economic productivity and facilitate the social needs of residents, as well as open their isolation from the outside world.”
Gede said that currently 83 USO 4G BTS points have been operated in North Maluku. In Papua Province, there are a total of 36 USO BTS.
"XL Axiata's 4G service in the Maluku Islands, as well as Papua has started operating since December 2019 and will continue to grow throughout 2020. Through this 4G service, data access is available for residents in this region, after previously, their village has never been reached by a data network," it said.
