MyRepublic Indonesia is a provider of fiber optic internet and subscription TV services that offers solutions for the internet and entertainment needs of Indonesians. The company has been working with ZTE to boost high-speed internet access in Indonesia. We spoke to Mei Zhonghua, President of Asia-Pacific and CIS, ZTE Corporation, and Timotius Sulaiman, CEO of MyRepublic, to learn more.
Timotius Sulaiman, CEO of MyRepublic
Congratulations on achieving the milestone of 1 million subscribers. How has the journey been so far, and what have you been working on in the past year?
Reaching 1 million subscribers is a truly humbling and honorable milestone for us, reflecting years of dedication, innovation, and commitment to delivering high-quality internet services. Our journey has been both challenging and rewarding as we continuously strive to expand our coverage and enhance our services to meet growing customer demands.
Over the past year, we have focused on expanding our network to 56 cities and 88 regencies, adding 3 million new home passes. We have also implemented initiatives to improve service reliability and strengthen the customer experience through advanced digital solutions. Additionally, we have invested in technological innovations to support our long-term vision of making high-speed internet accessible to more people across Indonesia.
What do you think are the key drivers catalyzing your growth in the industry?
Several factors have driven our growth in the industry. First, the increasing demand for high-speed internet, especially for remote work, online education, and entertainment, has accelerated FTTH adoption. Second, our commitment to providing high-quality, symmetrical internet speeds with fiber-optic technology has set us apart from competitors. Third, strong strategic partnerships, effective marketing campaigns, a strong sales force team, and customer-centric innovations have played a crucial role in driving market penetration, including into rural areas. Lastly, our relentless focus on expanding coverage to urban and suburban areas has helped us tap into new markets and drive sustained growth. Beyond expanding connectivity, these initiatives have also created numerous job opportunities, contributing to local economic growth.
How important is your partnership with ZTE in reaching this milestone? What do you expect for future cooperation?
Our partnership with ZTE has been instrumental in achieving this milestone. Their advanced technology solutions, reliable infrastructure, and strong technical support have significantly contributed to the efficiency and scalability of our network. Through this collaboration, we have been able to enhance our service quality and accelerate deployment in various regions.
Moving forward, we expect to further strengthen our partnership with ZTE by leveraging their cutting-edge innovations, such as AI-driven network optimization and next-generation broadband solutions. We believe that continued collaboration will help us achieve even greater milestones in the future.
What will this milestone lead to, and what are the key challenges you foresee related to it?
Reaching 1 million FTTH subscribers is a stepping stone toward our larger goal of expanding digital connectivity across Indonesia. This milestone will enable us to further invest in network development, service improvements, and customer engagement initiatives. As we move forward, we are embracing our 2025 theme, "Breaking Limits, Beyond Excellence," which reflects our ambition to push boundaries and continuously enhance our services.
At the heart of our journey is MyRepublic Indonesia’s vision: "Go Far, Fast, and Beyond." We are committed to accelerating digital transformation, reaching more communities, and delivering world-class internet services at an unprecedented pace.
However, as we scale up, we anticipate several challenges, including the need for continuous infrastructure investments, navigating regulatory requirements, and addressing rising customer expectations for speed, reliability, and affordability. Ensuring seamless service quality while managing rapid expansion will remain one of our key focus areas in the coming years.
What is your outlook for the FTTH market in Indonesia, and how can MyRepublic make a difference in its growth?
Indonesia’s FTTH market has tremendous growth potential, driven by increasing digital adoption and government initiatives to boost broadband penetration. We foresee continuous expansion in urban and suburban areas as demand for high-speed internet continues to rise.
Fiber broadband plays a vital role as the foundation and backbone of the nation's Digital Vision 2045, enabling innovation, economic growth, and digital inclusion. At MyRepublic Indonesia, we are committed to building this digital infrastructure—laying the groundwork for a more connected and technologically advanced Indonesia.
With our extensive experience, strong infrastructure, and commitment to innovation, MyRepublic Indonesia is well-positioned to drive this growth. By focusing on accessibility, reliability, and customer satisfaction, we aim to bridge the digital divide and provide seamless internet connectivity to even more households and businesses across Indonesia.
Mei Zhonghua, President of Asia-Pacific and CIS, ZTE Corporation
How have ZTE’s solutions supported operators in bridging the digital divide?
The global digital transformation is progressing rapidly, yet many landlocked nations in developing countries, and small island states still lack widespread access to digital services in numerous regions. Leveraging its technological advantages and adapting to local development stages, resource conditions, and application scenarios, ZTE has developed targeted solutions through technological innovation to help bridge the global digital divide.
- In remote areas, ZTE launches cost-effective AnyPON and Uniste solutions to solve communication difficulties effectively. In Thailand, ZTE plays an active role in the country’s Village Broadband Internet Project, have installed more than 7,300 sites that provide high-quality broadband networks to over 600,000 households and more than 5 million villagers. In Bangladesh, ZTE has partnered with Grameenphone, Banglalink and other operators to build over 10,000 mobile base stations and backbone optical transmission networks across the country, providing modern, low-cost high-speed internet and IP telephony services nationwide. This also ensures affordable home broadband coverage for millions of families.
- For island countries, ZTE launches its UBR ultra-wideband base stations and 360-degree omnidirectional antenna technology to maximize coverage with fewer sites, and significantly reduced both investment costs and energy consumption. With this solution, ZTE helped Vodafone Fiji build more than 600 4G sites nationwide. To solve power generation issues on islands, a solar energy solution has been implemented at about 30% of sites. Combined with a lithium battery communication energy storage solution, this reduces power consumption.
ZTE also places great emphasis on local digital talent development and actively promotes the creation of digital and intelligent talent teams. In Malaysia, ZTE has established a joint innovation lab with Multimedia University (MMU), jointly offer lectures, scholarships, skill certification programs, and work together to train telecommunications professionals. To date, this project has trained over 5,000 students and professionals. In Indonesia, ZTE has collaborated with the University of Indonesia's Telecom faculty on talent development projects for many years, continuously promoting talent exchanges and building reserves in the localized communications and AI sectors.
Could you share the key achievements of the cooperation between ZTE and MyRepublic?
Since the partnership between ZTE and MyRepublic, our FTTH Full Turnkey solution supported in the rapid development of its FTTH networks. We are sincerely happy that MyRepublic achieved 1 million subscribers milestone and looking forward to contributing to the continued growth of MyRepublic in the future. In 2024, the collaboration has successfully enabled FTTH services in 55 cities and 88 regencies cities across Indonesia and achieved the milestone of commissioning 900,000 homepass. And also made good progress in the deployment of DWDM and IP networks. In the process of cooperation, we also accumulated valuable experience for the iterative upgrading of our products and solutions to better serve our customers. Both of us have gained a lot along the way, and the most important thing is that we will continue to deepen our cooperation and work together to reach higher achievements.
With new opportunities arising in the global digital economy, how does ZTE drive long-term value growth for its partners, including MyRepublic, through technological research and development?
ZTE is committed to be a diver of digital economy, continuously enhancing core technological innovation and collaborating with industry partners to create win-win opportunities, and build a highly efficient and intelligent future.
To achieve this, ZTE will continue to lead in key communication network products, improving network performance while helping partners reduce operational costs. For instance, the innovative Omni 12T12R UBR solution integrates multiple sectors and frequency bands to create a streamlined and efficient site design. In accordance with the deployment of the Zong network in Pakistan, the RRU weights reduced by 26%, while the number of sites and tower rent fees were reduced by 67%. In fixed broadband field, ZTE's 10G PON and WiFi 7 terminal products have been large-scale for commercial use and will facilitate the smooth evolution of wired operators such as EMR to next-generation networks. Furthermore, ZTE leads the industry in 50G PON technology innovation and cooperation, and has carried out 50G PON trials with more than 50 operators.
Amid the technological wave driven by emerging intelligent technologies, ZTE offers comprehensive, full-stack intelligent computing solutions that span from computing power, networks, capabilities, intelligence and applications. These solutions are designed to seamlessly integrate and collaborate with customers' existing capabilities, empowering digital and intelligent industries while helping partners unlock new business growth opportunities. In mature 5G markets like Thailand and Malaysia, ZTE has partnered with operators to establish joint innovation centers. Leveraging the 5G + Digital Nebula platform, ZTE has embarked on a series of innovative projects in intelligent computing and industrial applications alongside its partners. In the MWC Barcelona 2025, ZTE and CelcomDigi signed MoU, to create new economic opportunities while strengthening digital governance with key innovations like AI-driven 5G New Calling, Intelligent DPI for optimised network traffic. Furthermore, ZTE and Telkomsel signed an MoU to expand strategic collaboration that focuses on AI-based technology, 5G-LAN, and ultra-compact solutions for private networks. It aims to improve broadband service quality and accelerate digital transformation across Indonesian industries.
