Orex SAI – the Open RAN joint venture between NTT DoCoMo and NEC – announced on Wednesday it has signed an MoU with Indonesian network service provider Solusi Sinergi Digital (Surge) and Nokia to connect underserved communities in Indonesia with Open RAN 5G fixed wireless access (FWA).
Under the project, Orex SAI, Surge and Nokia will conduct trials and deployments using 5G NR band n50 air interface technology, and integrating FTTx networks, IP, and optical solutions to establish a robust 5G FWA transport architecture.
Surge will contribute its fibre-optic infrastructure and local market expertise to the initiative, while Orex SAI will provide its Open RAN-based 5G FWA system, which includes 5G Standalone (5G SA) RAN, service management and orchestration, and core network solutions. Meanwhile, Nokia will provide 5G FWA customer-premises equipment (CPE) and fixed networking solutions.
The project is part of a multi-year comprehensive commercial agreement signed by Orex SAI and Surge on Tuesday to expand high-speed internet access to unconnected and underserved regions across Indonesia under the government’s Affordable Internet Program. That agreement follows an MoU signed by both companies in December 2024 to collaborate on narrowing Indonesia’s digital divide.
The 5G FWA project aims to bring affordable high-speed home broadband to up to 40 million households in Indonesia, which has one of the lowest fixed broadband penetration rates in ASEAN at 15%.
“With Indonesia’s vast archipelago and challenging geography, traditional fixed broadband solutions have struggled to scale effectively,” said Surge director Shannedy Ong in a statement. “This partnership marks a major step forward in bringing affordable, high-speed internet at IDR100,000 and up to 100-Mbps speed to millions of people.”
Surge operates over 6,900 km of fibre optic infrastructure along railway corridors with bandwidth capacity up to 64 Tbps. Its FTTH access network covers over 150,000 fixed broadband home connects with a 90%+ take-up rate.
Following technical validation and integration of the technological elements to optimize 5G FWA performance and assess the scalability of the solution across different regions in Indonesia, the three companies plan to start field trials in the second half of this year, prioritizing the most underserved regions. Surge aims to commence full-scale commercialisation of the service in early 2026, and plans to deploy up to 20,000 sites by 2030 and beyond.
The Surge project comes hot on the heels of Orex SAI’s partnership deal with Philippine operator Globe Telecom on Monday to launch a demonstration experiment for Open RAN.
The same day, Orex SAI announced a partnership with Singaporean telco StarHub jointly deploy commercial Open RAN solutions for both StarHub’s Cloud Infinity and 4G/5G macro network.
