UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
Form 20-F
◻ | REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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☑ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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| For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 |
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◻ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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| OR |
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◻ | SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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| Date of event requiring this shell company report |
Commission file number 1-14406
Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero)
PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Telecommunications Indonesia
(a state-owned public limited liability company)
(Translation of Registrant's name into English)
Republic of Indonesia
(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
Jl. Japati No. 1, Bandung 40133, Indonesia
(Address of principal executive offices)
Investor Relations Unit
Telkom Landmark Tower, Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto No. 52, 39th Floor, Jakarta 12710, Indonesia
(62) (22) 452-7101
(62) (21) 521-5109
(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.
Title of Each class |
| Trading Symbol(s) |
| Name of each exchange on which registered |
American Depositary Share representing 100 Series B Shares, par value 50 Rupiah per share | | TLK | | New York Stock Exchange |
Series B Shares, par value 50 Rupiah per share | | | | New York Stock Exchange* |
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act.
None
Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act.
None
Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer's classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the Annual Report:
Series A Dwiwarna Share, par value 50 Rupiah per share | 1 |
Series B Shares, par value 50 Rupiah per share | 99,062,216,599 |
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Yes ☑ No
If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes R No ☑
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes ☑ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).
Yes ☑ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of "accelerated filer and large accelerated filer" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.:
Large accelerated filer ☑ | Accelerated filer | Non-accelerated filer Emerging growth company |
If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standard provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
The term "new or revised financial accounting standard" refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ◻
Indicate by checkmark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:
U.S. GAAP ◻ International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ☑ Other ◻
If "Other" has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by checkmark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.
Item 17 Item 18
If this is an Annual Report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes No ☑
*The Series B Shares were registered in connection with the registration of American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"). The Series B Shares are not listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange
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MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS | 173 | |
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PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS | 176 | |
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EXHIBIT 2.1 | Description of securities | |
EXHIBIT 12.1 | CEO Certification pursuant to section 302 | |
EXHIBIT 12.2 | CFO Certification pursuant to section 302 | |
EXHIBIT 13.1 | CEO Certification pursuant to section 906 | |
EXHIBIT 13.2 | CFO Certification pursuant to section 906 | |
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3G
The generic term for third generation mobile telecommunications technology. 3G offers high speed connections to cellular phones and other mobile devices, enabling video conference and other applications requiring broadband connectivity to the internet.
3.5G
A grouping of disparate mobile telephony and data technologies designed to provide better performance than 3G systems, as an interim step towards deployment of full 4G/LTE capability.
4G/LTE
A fourth generation super-fast internet network technology based on IP that makes the process of data transfer much faster and more stable.
5G
A fifth generation of cellular mobile communications which targets high data rate, reduced latency, energy saving, cost reduction, higher system capacity and massive device connectivity.
ADRs
American depositary receipts which, if issued, represents our ADSs.
ADSs
Our American depositary shares, certificates traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Each of our ADSs represents 100 shares of common stock.
APMK
Alat Pembayaran Menggunakan Kartu or card-based payment instruments, a payment instrument in the form of credit cards, ATM and/or debit cards.
ARPU
Average Revenue per User, a measure used primarily by telecommunications and networking companies which states how much revenue is generated by the user on average. It is defined as the total revenue from specified services divided by the number of users of such services.
ATM
Automated Teller Machine.
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A2P SMS messaging
Application-to-Person SMS messaging is a process in which an SMS message is produced from an application and is sent to a mobile subscriber. Businesses can use it for communicating with consumers, authenticating users of online services, or delivering time-sensitive alerts. A2P SMS can be used for sending marketing and promotional messages, confirmation and alerts (e.g., appointment reminders, notifications, banking notifications (anti-fraud alerts or withdrawal notifications, for example)), and Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) (one-time passwords (OTPs) or PIN codes).
Typical examples of A2P SMS include banking notifications, critical alerts, SMS-based two factor authentication, automatic booking confirmations, loyalty programs and marketing notifications etc. Online reservation systems, different corporate platforms and support services have deployed A2P SMS to increase efficiency and improve communication. Financial institutions have been using A2P SMS for over 15 years, by delivering automated, event-based SMS notifications to their clients’ mobile phones. Examples include anti-fraud alerts, balance statements, payment reminders, withdrawal notifications.
B2B
Business-to-business refers to arrangements and transactions between businesses.
Backbone
The main telecommunications network consisting of transmission and switching facilities connecting several network access nodes. The transmission links between nodes and switching facilities include microwave, submarine cable, satellite, fiber optic and other transmission technology.
Bandwidth
The capacity of a communication link.
Bapepam-LK
Badan Pengawas Pasar Modal dan Lembaga Keuangan or the Indonesian Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Agency, the predecessor to the OJK.
BRAS
Broadband Remote Access Server, a network element that routes Internet Protocol traffic to and from broadband remote access devices through an Internet Access Provider's network to the internet and that facilitates the convergence of multiple internet traffic sources.
Brexit
On June 23, 2016, the UK held a referendum in which a majority of voters voted in favor of the UK leaving the EU, which officially happened on January 31, 2020 (commonly referred to as "Brexit"), following a UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement signed in October 2019.
The UK government and the European Commission announced on December 24, 2020 that they had reached an agreement on a draft EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (“TCA”). The UK Parliament ratified the UK’s entry into, and implementation of, the TCA on December 30, 2020 pursuant to the EU (Future Relationship) Act 2020. The TCA has been agreed by the European Commission and the European Parliament but remains subject to the final approval from the Council of Europe.
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Broadband
A signaling method that includes or handles a relatively wide range (or band) of frequencies.
BTS
Base Transceiver Station, equipment that transmits and receives radio telephony signals to and from other telecommunications systems.
Business process as-a-service
Business process as-a-service is the delivery of business process outsourcing services employing a cloud computing service model built to serve various tenants simultaneously.
BWA
Broadband Wireless Access, a technology that provides high speed wireless internet access or computer networking access over a wide area.
CDMA
Code Division Multiple Access, a transmission technology where each transmission is sent over multiple frequencies and a unique code is assigned to each data or voice transmission, allowing multiple users to share the same frequency spectrum.
Common stock
Our Series B Shares having a par value of Rp50 per share.
CPaaS
Communications Platform-as-a-Service refers to a cloud-based platform that provides the ability to customers to add real-time communication features to their business applications. SMS, voice or other messaging capabilities are features that can be added to such business applications.
CPE
Customer Premises Equipment, any handset, receiver, set-top box or other equipment used by the consumer of wireless, fixed line or broadband services, which is the property of the network operator and located on the customer's premises.
Customer Facing Unit (or "CFU")
Similar to a strategic business unit, it is an organizational unit that interacts with specific customer segments, with responsibility for their respective profit and loss, and which regroup subsidiaries and business portfolios relevant to the specific business segments they are in charge of interacting with.
DCS
Digital Communication System, a cellular system using GSM technology operating in the 1.8 GHz frequency.
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Defined Benefit Pension Plan or DBPP
A type of pension plan in which an employer promises a specified monthly benefit on retirement that is predetermined by a formula based on the employee's earnings history, tenure of service and age, rather than depending on investment returns. It is considered 'defined' in the sense that the formula for computing the retirement benefits is known in advance.
Defined Contribution Pension Plan or DCPP
A type of retirement plan in which the amount of the employer's annual contribution is specified. Individual accounts are set up for participants and benefits are based on the amounts credited to these accounts (through the employer's contributions and, if applicable, the employee's contributions) plus any investment earnings on the money in the account. Only the employer's contributions to the account are guaranteed, not future benefits. In defined contribution plans, future benefits fluctuate on the basis of investment earnings.
Deposit Agreement
The deposit agreement entered by and among our Company, the Depositary for our ADSs and all owners and beneficial owners, from time to time, of ADRs issued under that agreement, dated November 21, 1995, as amended and supplemented, from time to time.
Depositary
Bank of New York Mellon Corporation which serves as the depositary for our ADSs under the terms of the Deposit Agreement.
DLD
Domestic Long Distance, a long distance call service designed for customers who live in different areas within one country. These areas generally have different area codes.
DTH
Direct-to-Home satellite broadcasting, the distribution of television signals from high-powered geostationary satellites to small dish antennas and satellite receivers in homes across the country.
Dwiwarna Share
The Series A Dwiwarna Share having a par value of Rp50 per share. The Dwiwarna Share is held by the Government and provides special voting rights and veto rights over certain matters related to our corporate governance. For more information, see "Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions — Major Shareholders — Relationship with the Government and Government Agencies."
E-Commerce
Electronic Commerce, the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the internet and other computer networks.
e-Money
Electronic Money, money or script that is only exchanged electronically.
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Earth Station
The antenna and associated equipment used to receive or transmit telecommunications signals via satellite.
EDGE
Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution, a digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM.
Edutainment
Education and entertainment.
EU
The European Union.
Fiber Optic
Cables using optical fiber and laser technology through which modulating light beams representing data are transmitted through thin filaments of glass.
Fixed Line
Fixed wireline and fixed wireless.
Fixed Wireless
The local wireless transmission link using a cellular, microwave, or radio technology to connect customers at a fixed location to the local telephone exchange.
Fixed Wireline
A fixed wire or cable path linking a subscriber at a fixed location to a local exchange, usually with an individual phone number.
Gateway
A peripheral that bridges a packet based network (IP) and a circuit based network (PSTN).
Gb
Gigabyte, a unit of information used, for example, to quantify computer memory or storage capacity.
Gbps
Gigabyte per second, the average number of bits, characters, or blocks per unit time passing between equipment in a data transmission system. This is typically measured in multiples of the unit bit per second or byte per second.
GHz
Gigahertz. The hertz (symbol Hz), is the international standard unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon.
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GMS
General Meeting of Shareholders, which may be an annual general meeting of shareholders ("AGMS") or an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders ("EGMS").
GPON
Gigabyte-Passive Optical Network, the most widely deployed type of passive optical network system that brings fiber optic cabling and signals all or most of the way to end users.
GPRS
General Packet Radio Service, a data packet switching technology that allows information to be sent and received across a mobile network and only utilizes the network when there is data to be sent.
GSM
Global System for Mobile Telecommunication, a European standard for digital cellular telephone.
ICT
Information and communications technology.
IDD
International Direct Dialing, a service that allows a subscriber to make an international call without the assistance or intervention of an operator from any telephone terminal.
IMS
IP multimedia subsystem, a service which combines wireless and fixed line technologies for voice and data communications.
Installed Lines
Complete lines fully built-out to the distribution point and ready to be connected to subscribers.
Interconnection
The physical linking of a carrier's network with equipment or facilities not belonging to that network.
Internet Access Provider
Provider of equipment and telecommunications line access for points of presence on the internet for the geographical area served, to enable individuals and other internet service providers to access the internet.
Internet of Things (or "IoT")
Infrastructure which interconnects physical and virtual things using interoperable information and communication technologies.
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Internet Protocol (or "IP")
The method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the internet.
IP Core
A block of logic data that is used in making a field-programmable gate array or application-specific integrated circuit for a product.
IPTV
Internet Protocol Television, a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet Protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.
ISP
Internet Services Provider, an organization that provides access to the internet.
Job Creation Law
Law of the Republic of Indonesia No.11 of 2020 on Job Creation, commonly known as the "Omnibus Law."
KPPU
Komisi Pengawasan Persaingan Usaha or Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition.
Leased Line
A dedicated telecommunications transmissions line linking one fixed point to another, rented from an operator for exclusive use.
Mbps
Megabytes per second, a measure of speed for digital signal transmission expressed in millions of bits per second.
Metro Ethernet
Bridge or relationship between locations that are apart geographically, this network connects LAN customers at several different locations.
MHz
Megahertz, a unit of measure of frequency equal to one million cycles per second.
Mobile Broadband
The marketing term for wireless internet access through a portable modem, mobile phone, USB Wireless Modem or other mobile devices.
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MPLS
Multi-Protocol Label Switching, an advanced routing method used within service provider network infrastructures to speed up and shape traffic flows as data travels from one node to the next.
MoCI
The Ministry of Communication and Informatics of the Republic of Indonesia, to which regulatory responsibility over telecommunications was transferred from the Ministry of Communication and Information in February 2005.
MoF
The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia.
MRTG
The Multi-Router Traffic Grapher is a free software for monitoring and measuring the traffic load on network links. It allows users to visualize in graphical format the traffic load of a network over a specific period of time.
MSOE
Kementerian Badan Usaha Milik Negara or the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises of the Republic of Indonesia.
Network Access Point
A public network exchange facility where ISPs connect with one another in peering arrangements.
Next Generation Network
A packet-based network able to provide multiple services, including telecommunications services, and to make use of multiple broadband and quality-of-service-enabled technologies, in which service-related functions are independent from underlying transport-related technologies. Such a network is able to handle multiple types of traffic (such as voice, data, and multimedia) by encapsulating these into packets, similar to how packets are transmitted over the internet.
OJK
Otoritas Jasa Keuangan or the Indonesian Financial Services Authority, the successor of Bapepam-LK, an independent institution with authority to regulate and supervise financial services activities in the banking sector, capital market sector as well as non-bank financial industry sector.
OSS
The Online Single Submission; an electronic platform administered by the Investment Coordinating Board of the Republic of Indonesia to facilitate business licensing in Indonesia.
OTN
Optical Transport Network, a technology for sending various types of data traffic over optical fiber networks based on optical wavelengths that enables more efficient transmission for multi-service traffic by relying on multiplexing capability.
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Over The Top (or "OTT")
A generic term commonly used to refer to the delivery of audio, video and other media over the internet without the involvement of a multiple-system operator in the control or distribution of the content.
Payment switching service
A payment switching service is a service that allows members of a particular network to make payments through cards, digital money (for example through the use of digital applications that allow money transfers), and/or fund transfers between different financial institutions. Such payments can be made between members of the same network or between members and non-members.
Pay TV
Pay Television, premium television, or premium channels, subscription-based television services, usually provided by both analog and digital cable and satellite, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and internet television.
PKLN Team
Tim Pinjaman Komersial Luar Negeri, or Foreign Commercial Loan Coordinating Team.
Point of presence
An access point, location or facility that connects to and helps other devices establish a connection with the internet, which may consist of a router, switches, servers and other data communication devices. We operate two layers of points of presence, namely main and primary points of presence. A "main point of presence" is the transport backbone that aggregates national traffic. A "primary point of presence" is the aggregate regional transport backbone which has the capability of creating services.
PCEF
Policy and Charging Enforcement Function, provides user traffic handling and quality of service (QoS) at the gateway and responsible for providing service data flow detection and counting, along with online and offline charging interactions. PCRF and PCEF are closely related functional entities, which include policy control decision making and flow based charging control functionalities.
PCRF
Policy and Charging Rules Function, a node which operates in real time in order to determine policy rules in multimedia network. It operates at the core of the network and has access to subscriber databases and other specialized functions, e.g. charging system, so that to allocate broadband network resources and manage flow-based charges for subscribers and services.
PSTN
Public Switched Telephone Network, a telephone network operated and maintained by us that provides infrastructure and services for public telecommunication. Originally only an analog system, the PSTN is now almost entirely digital, even though most subscribers are connected via analog circuits. It now includes mobile phones in addition to fixed-line phones.
Radio Frequency Spectrum
The part of the electromagnetic spectrum corresponding to radio frequencies, i.e. frequencies lower than around 300 GHz (or, equivalently, wavelengths longer than about 1 mm).
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RIO
Reference Interconnection Offer, a regulatory term covering all facilities, including interconnection tariffs, technical facilities and administrative issues offered by one telecommunications operator to other telecommunications operator for interconnection access.
RMJ
Regional Metro Junction, an inter-city cable network installation service in one region (region/province).
Roaming
A general term referring to the extension of connectivity service in a location that is different from the home location where the service was registered.
Satellite Transponder
Radio relay equipment embedded in a satellite that receives signals from Earth and amplifies and transmits the signal back to the Earth.
SCCS
Submarine Communications Cable System, a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunications signals across the ocean.
SDN
Software Defined Networking, a network architecture that aims to make networks agile and centrally programmable through software to improve control by enabling companies, operators and service providers to respond quickly to changing business requirements.
SD-WAN
Software-defined Wide Area Network, an approach that uses software to deploy, operate and manage WAN architectures more easily and with increased connectivity.
SIM Card
Subscriber Identity Module, a microchip in a mobile phone that connects it to a particular phone network.
SLG
Service Level Guarantee or service level agreement is an agreement between us and our customers regarding the level of the quality of service.
SME
Small and Medium Enterprise.
SMS
Short Messaging Service, a technology allowing the exchange of text messages between mobile phones and between fixed wireless phones.
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SOE
State-Owned Enterprise, a Government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, Government business enterprise, or parastatal, a legal entity created by a Government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of a Government owner.
Softswitch
A central device in a telephone network that connects calls from one phone line to another, entirely by means of software running on a computer system. This work was formerly carried out by hardware, with physical switchboards to route the calls.
Switch
A mechanical, electrical or electronic device that opens or closes circuits, completes or breaks an electrical path, or selects paths or circuits, used to route traffic in a telecommunications network.
TIMES
Telecommunication, Information, Media, Edutainment and Service.
TPE
A normalized way to refer to transponder bandwidth, which means how many transponders would be used if the same total bandwidths used only 36 MHz transponder (1 TPE = 36 MHz).
UK
The United Kingdom.
USO
Universal Service Obligation, the service obligation imposed by the Government on all telecommunications services providers for the purpose of providing public services in Indonesia.
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol, a means of sending voice information using the IP.
VPN
Virtual Private Network, a secure private network connection, built on top of publicly-accessible infrastructure, such as the internet or the public telephone network. VPNs typically employ some combination of encryption, digital certificates, strong user authentication and access control to secure the traffic they carry. VPNs provide connectivity to many machines behind a gateway or firewall.
VSAT
Very Small Aperture Terminal, a relatively small antenna, typically 1.5 to 3.0 meters in diameter, placed in the user's premises and used for two-way communications by satellite.
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WAN
Wide Area Network, a collection of local-area networks (LANs) or other networks that communicate with one another.
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CERTAIN DEFINITIONS, CONVENTIONS AND GENERAL INFORMATION
Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms "Company," "Telkom," "Group," "Telkom Group," "we," "us," and "our" refers to Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk and its subsidiaries. "Indonesia" refers to the Republic of Indonesia. "Government", except if stated otherwise, refers to the Government of the Republic of Indonesia. "United States," "U.S." or "US" refers to the United States of America. "United Kingdom" or the "UK" refers to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. "HK$" refers to the Hong Kong Dollar, the lawful currency of Hong Kong. "MYR" refers to the Malaysian Ringgit, the lawful currency of Malaysia. "Rupiah," "Indonesian Rupiah" or "Rp" refers to the lawful currency of Indonesia. "SG$" refers to the Singapore Dollar, the lawful currency of Singapore. "U.S. Dollar" or "US$" refers to the lawful currency of the United States. "TW$" refers to the Taiwan Dollar, the lawful currency of Taiwan.
Our audited consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2019 and 2020 and for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020 included in this Form 20-F (the "Consolidated Financial Statements") have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB").
Solely for the convenience of the reader, certain Indonesian Rupiah amounts have been converted into U.S. Dollars at specified rates. Unless otherwise indicated, the U.S. Dollar equivalent information for amounts in Indonesian Rupiah are converted at the Reuters Rate for December 31, 2020 at 04.00 PM Jakarta time, which was Rp14,050 to US$1.00. The exchange rate of Indonesian Rupiah for U.S. Dollar on December 31, 2020 was Rp14,105 to US$1.00 based on the middle exchange which is calculated based on the Bank Indonesia buying and selling rate. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York does not certify for customs purposes a noon buying rate for cable transfers in Indonesian Rupiah. No representation is made that the Indonesian Rupiah or U.S. Dollar amounts shown herein could have been or could be converted into U.S. Dollars or Indonesian Rupiah, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all. See "Item 3. Key Information — Selected Financial Data — Exchange Controls" for further information regarding rates of exchange between the Indonesian Rupiah and the U.S. Dollar.
Certain numerical figures set out herein, including financial data, have been subject to rounding adjustments and, as a result, the totals of the data disclosed herein may vary slightly from the actual arithmetic totals of such information. Percentages and amounts reflecting changes over time periods relating to financial and other data under "Item 5. — Operating and Financial Review and Prospects" are calculated using the rounded numerical data in the narrative description under "Item 5. — Operating and Financial Review and Prospects" and not the numerical data in our Consolidated Financial Statements.
This Form 20-F contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act") and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"), within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our current expectations and projections for our future operating performance, business prospects and events. The words "may," "will," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "seek," "intend," "plan," "likely to," "potential," "estimate," "project," "continue" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections of future events that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs.
These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:
● our goals and strategy;
● our expectations regarding demand for our products and services;
● growth of the telecommunications sector in Indonesia and of the Indonesian economy in general;
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● our prospects, projects, results of operations and financial condition;
● trends and competition in the telecommunications industry in Indonesia;
● expected technological trends and changes in our industry;
● relevant government policies and regulations governing our business and industry;
● general economic and business conditions in Indonesia and the countries where we carry out our business;
● impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
● assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing.
In addition, all statements other than statements of historical facts included in this Form 20-F are forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements herein are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including changes in the economic, social and political environments in Indonesia. This Form 20-F discloses, under "Item 3. Key Information — Risk Factors" and elsewhere, important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations.
The forward-looking statements made in this Form 20-F relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made herein. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should read this Form 20-F and the documents that we refer to herein completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect.
ITEM 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISORS
Not applicable.
ITEM 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE
Not applicable.
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A. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following tables present our selected consolidated financial information and operating statistics as of the dates and for each of the periods indicated. The selected financial information as of and for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 presented below is based upon our Consolidated Financial Statements prepared in conformity with IFRS as issued by the IASB. The selected financial information as of and for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 should be read in conjunction with and is qualified in its entirety by reference to, our Consolidated Financial Statements, including the notes thereto, and the other information included elsewhere in this Form 20-F and in our previous Form 20-F filed with the SEC on June 15, 2020.
The Public Accountant Firm ("KAP") Purwantono, Sungkoro & Surja (formerly Purwantono, Suherman & Surja) (a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited) ("Purwantono, Sungkoro & Surja") audited our Consolidated Financial Statements, prepared as of and for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
KEY CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME DATA
IFRS
| | Years Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 2016 | | 2017 | | 2018 | | 2019 | | 2020 | ||
|
| (Rp billion) |
| (Rp billion) |
| (Rp billion) |
| (Rp billion) |
| (Rp billion) |
| (US$ million) |
| | except for per share and per ADS amount | ||||||||||
Revenues |
| 116,333 |
| 128,256 |
| 130,788 | 135,557 | | 136,447 |
| 9,712 | |
Expenses(1) |
| 77,073 |
| 84,293 |
| 92,202 | 92,901 | | 93,497 |
| 6,655 | |
Operating Profit |
| 39,172 |
| 43,902 |
| 38,533 | 43,994 | | 43,958 |
| 3,128 | |
Profit before Income Tax |
| 38,166 |
| 42,628 |
| 36,077 | 38,299 | | 39,147 |
| 2,786 | |
Net Income Tax Expense |
| (9,017) |
| (9,958) |
| (9,366) | (10,439) | | (9,257) |
| (659) | |
Profit for the Year |
| 29,149 |
| 32,670 |
| 26,711 | 27,860 | | 29,890 |
| 2,127 | |
Attributable to owners of the parent company |
| 19,333 |
| 22,120 |
| 17,802 | 19,068 | | 21,052 |
| 1,498 | |
Attributable to non-controlling interests |
| 9,816 |
| 10,550 |
| 8,909 | 8,792 | | 8,838 |
| 629 | |
Other Comprehensive Income (Losses) - Net |
| (2,099) |
| (2,332) |
| 4,954 | (2,189) | | (3,581) |
| (255) | |
Total Comprehensive Income for the Year |
| 27,050 |
| 30,338 |
| 31,665 | 25,671 | | 26,309 |
| 1,872 | |
Attributable to owners of the parent company |
| 17,312 |
| 19,927 |
| 22,631 | 17,029 | | 17,840 |
| 1,270 | |
Attributable to non-controlling interests |
| 9,738 |
| 10,411 |
| 9,034 | 8,642 | | 8,469 |
| 602 | |
Weighted average number of shares outstanding (in millions after stock split) |
| 98,638 |
| 99,062 |
| 99,062 | 99,062 | | 99,062 |
| - | |
Basic and Diluted Earnings per Share (in full amount) |
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
| | ||
Profit per share(2) |
| 195.99 |
| 223.30 |
| 179.71 | 192.49 | | 212.51 |
| 0.02 | |
Profit per ADS (100 Series B Shares per ADS) |
| 19,599.85 |
| 22,329.40 |
| 17,970.52 | 19,248.51 | | 21,251.29 |
| 1.51 | |
Dividend relating to the period (accrual basis, in full amount) |
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
| | ||
Dividends declared per share |
| 136.75 |
| 167.66 |
| 163.82 | 154.07 | | - |
| - | |
Dividends declared per ADS |
| 13,675 |
| 16,766 |
| 16,382 | 15,407 | | - |
| - | |
Dividend paid in the period (cash basis, in full amount)(3) |
|
|
|
|
|
| | |
| | ||
Dividends declared per share |
| 94.63 |
| 136.75 |
| 167.66 | 163.82 | | 154.07 |
| 0.01 | |
Dividends declared per ADS |
| 9,463 |
| 13,675 |
| 16,766 | 16,382 | | 15,407 |
| 1.10 |
Notes
(1) | Expenses are calculated as the sum of the following expenses: operation, maintenance, and telecommunications services, depreciation and amortization, personnel, interconnection, general and administrative, marketing, gains (losses) on foreign exchange - net, share in profit (loss) of associated companies - net, impairment of long term investment in associated companies and other income (expense) - net. |
(2) | Using Indonesian Financial Accounting Standards ("IFAS") results, our profit for the year attributable to owners of the parent company was Rp19,352 billion, Rp22,145 billion, Rp18,032 billion, Rp18,663 billion and Rp20,804 for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and our net income per share would be Rp196.19, Rp223.55, Rp182.03, Rp188.4 and Rp210.01 for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. We distribute dividends based on profit attributable to owners of the parent company and net income per share determined in reliance on IFAS. |
(3) | In 2016, we paid a cash dividend for 2015 of Rp94.63 per share. In 2017, we paid a cash dividend for 2016 of Rp136.75 per share. In 2018, we paid a cash dividend for 2017 of Rp167.66 per share. In 2019, we paid a cash dividend for 2018 of Rp163.82 per share. In 2020, we paid a cash dividend for 2019 of Rp154.07 per share. |
16
KEY CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION DATA
IFRS
| | As of December 31, | ||||||||||
| | 2016 | | 2017 | | 2018 | | 2019 | | 2020 | ||
|
| (Rp billion) |
| (Rp billion) |
| (Rp billion) |
| (Rp billion) |
| (Rp billion) |
| (US$ million) |
| | except for per share | ||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
| 29,767 |
| 25,145 |
| 17,435 | 18,241 | | 20,589 |
| 1,465 | |
Trade and other receivables |
| 7,900 |
| 9,564 |
| 9,928 | 11,272 | | 11,554 |
| 822 | |
Prepaid other taxes | | 2,621 | | 2,833 | | 3,325 | | 3,251 | | 2,945 | | 210 |
Other current assets |
| 5,246 |
| 7,183 |
| 7,280 | 5,541 | | 6,586 |
| 469 | |
Total Current Assets |
| 47,701 |
| 47,561 |
| 42,843 | 40,917 | | 46,529 |
| 3,312 | |
Property and equipment |
| 114,230 |
| 129,872 |
| 142,912 | 153,174 | | 159,123 |
| 11,326 | |
Right of use assets | | - | | - | | - | | 20,893 | | 19,104 | | 1,360 |
Intangible assets |
| 3,089 |
| 3,530 |
| 5,032 | 6,446 | | 6,846 |
| 487 | |
Deferred tax assets - net | | 769 | | 2,804 | | 2,477 | | 2,779 | | 3,743 | | 266 |
Total Non-Current Assets |
| 131,642 |
| 150,624 |
| 163,057 | 194,140 | | 199,344 |
| 14.188 | |
Total Assets |
| 179,343 |
| 198,185 |
| 205,900 | 235,057 | | 245,873 |
| 17,500 | |
Trade and other payables |
| 13,690 |
| 15,791 |
| 15,214 | 14,324 | | 17,577 |
| 1,251 | |
Current income tax liabilities |
| 1,236 |
| 801 |
| 404 | 1,545 | | 1,291 |
| 92 | |
Accrued expenses |
| 11,283 |
| 12,630 |
| 12,769 | 12,761 | | 14,265 |
| 1,015 | |
Contract liabilities |
| 5,563 |
| 5,427 |
| 5,252 | 7,430 | | 7,832 |
| 557 | |
Short-term bank loans and current maturities of long-term borrowings |
| 4,774 |
| 6,704 |
| 9,532 | 17,451 | | 19,284 |
| 1,373 | |
Current maturities of lease liabilities | | 658 | | 794 | | 807 | | 4,663 | | 4,805 | | 342 |
Total Current Liabilities |
| 39,762 |
| 45,376 |
| 46,322 | 61,349 | | 68,500 |
| 4,875 | |
Deferred tax liabilities - net |
| 745 |
| 933 |
| 1,197 | 1,204 | | 607 |
| 43 | |
Pension benefits and other post-employment benefit obligations |
| 6,126 |
| 10,195 |
| 5,555 | 8,078 | | 12,976 |
| 924 | |
Long-term loans and other borrowings |
| 23,015 |
| 24,964 |
| 31,405 | 32,289 | | 30,561 |
| 2,175 | |
Lease liabilities | | 3,352 | | 3,010 | | 2,338 | | 12,554 | | 10,072 | | 717 |
Total Non-Current Liabilities |
| 34,305 |
| 40,978 |
| 42,572 | 56,484 | | 56,859 |
| 4,047 | |
Total Liabilities |
| 74,067 |
| 86,354 |
| 88,894 | 117,833 | | 125,359 |
| 8,922 | |
Capital stock(1) |
| 5,040 |
| 5,040 |
| 4,953 | 4,953 | | 4,953 |
| 353 | |
Net equity attributable to owners of the parent company |
| 84,163 |
| 92,467 |
| 98,739 | 99,796 | | 102,374 |
| 7,287 | |
Non-controlling interests |
| 21,113 |
| 19,364 |
| 18,267 | 17,428 | | 18,140 |
| 1,291 | |
Total Equity |
| 105,276 |
| 111,831 |
| 117,006 | 117,224 | | 120,514 |
| 8,578 | |
Total Liabilities and Equity | | 179,343 | | 198,185 | | 205,900 | | 235,057 | | 245,873 | | 17,500 |
Net Debt |
| 2,032 |
| 10,327 |
| 26,647 | 48,716 | | 44,113 |
| 3,140 | |
Net Working Capital |
| 7,939 |
| 2,185 |
| (3,479) | (20,432) | | (21,971) |
| (1,564) | |
Issued and fully paid shares (in shares) |
| 100,799,996,400 |
| 100,799,996,400 |
| 99,062,216,600 | 99,062,216,600 | | 99,062,216,600 |
| - |
Note:
(1) | As of December 31, 2020, our issued and fully paid-up capital consisted of one Dwiwarna Share and 99,062,216,599 shares of common stock and our authorized capital stock consisted of one Dwiwarna Share and 399,999,999,999 shares of common stock. |
Exchange Controls
The Consolidated Financial Statements are stated in Indonesian Rupiah. The conversion of Indonesian Rupiah amounts into U.S. Dollars are included solely for the convenience of the readers and have been made using the average of the market bid and offer rates of Rp14,050 to US$1.00 published by Reuters on December 31, 2020.
On March 31, 2021, the Reuters bid and offer rates were Rp14,450 to US$1.00 and Rp14,490 to US$1.00, respectively.
17
Foreign Exchange Controls
Indonesia has limited foreign exchange controls. The Indonesian Rupiah has been, and in general is, freely convertible. A number of regulations, however, have an impact on the exchange system. For example, only banks are authorized to deal in foreign exchange and execute exchange transactions related to the import and export of goods. In addition, Indonesian banks (including branches of foreign banks in Indonesia) are required to report to Bank Indonesia any fund transfers exceeding US$10,000.
Following the disbanding of the PKLN Team in accordance with Presidential Regulation No.82 of 2020, we are no longer required to obtain the PKLN Team's approval to enter foreign commercial loans. Based on Presidential Regulation No.59 of 1972, however, we are still required to obtain an approval from the MOF prior to entering foreign commercial loans. We are also required to submit periodic reports to MOF during the term of such foreign commercial loans. Following the disbanding of the PKLN Team and pending the issuance of the relevant implementing regulations, there is uncertainty as to the MOF's approval process and how periodic reports on foreign commercial loans will be handled.
B. CAPITALIZATION AND INDEBTEDNESS
Not applicable.
C. REASON FOR THE OFFER AND USE OF PROCEEDS
Not applicable.
D. RISK FACTORS
An investment in our ADSs or shares involves risks. You should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information included or incorporated by reference in this Form 20-F, before making an investment decision. Our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially adversely affected by any of these risks. The market or trading price of our ADSs could decline due to any of these risks, and you may lose all or part of your investment. In addition, the risks discussed below also include forward-looking statements and our actual results may differ substantially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. You should also review the section of this Form 20-F captioned “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—G. Safe Harbor on Forward-Looking Statements.” Please note that additional risks not presently known to us, that we currently deem immaterial or that we have not anticipated may also impair our business and operations.
Risks Factor Summary
Risks Related to Our Business
Operational Risks
● A material failure in the continuing operations of our network, certain key systems, gateways to our network or the networks of other network operators could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
● We may, in the future, be required to share our network infrastructure and capacity with our competitors.
● Our operations have been and may continue to be adversely affected by an outbreak of an infectious disease, such as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) or other epidemics.
● Our networks face both potential physical and cyber security threats, such as theft, vandalism and acts intended to disrupt our operations, which could adversely affect our operating results.
18
● We face a number of risks relating to our internet-related services.
● A revenue leakage might occur due to internal weaknesses or external factors and if this risk were to materialize, it could have an adverse effect on our operating results.
● New technologies may adversely affect our ability to remain competitive.
● Expected benefits from investment in new networks and technologies may not be realized.
● Our satellites have limited operational life and they may be damaged or destroyed during in-orbit operation or suffer launch delays or failures. The loss or reduced performance of a satellite, whether caused by equipment failure or its license being revoked, may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and ability to provide certain services.
Risks Related to our Fixed and Cellular Telecommunications Business
● Competition from existing cellular service providers may adversely affect our cellular services business.
● We may further lose wireline telephone subscribers and revenues derived from our wireline voice services may continue to decline, which may materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
● Our data and internet services are facing increasing competition, and we may experience declining margins and/or market share from such services as such competition intensifies.
● Cellular network congestion and limited spectrum availability could limit our cellular subscriber growth and cause reductions in our cellular service quality.
● Continuing growth in and the converging nature of wireless and broadband services will require us to deploy increasing amounts of capital and require ongoing access to spectrum in order to provide attractive services to customers.
● Our continued investments in the construction of our infrastructure network may not adequately address the issues resulting from the substantial increases in data traffic or otherwise achieve the desired economic returns.
● We are subject to the control of the Government.
Financial Risks
● We are exposed to interest rate risk and risks inherent to potential changes in relevant benchmarks and indices, including changes to the administration of certain benchmarks or their future discontinuation, such as the potential phasing out of LIBOR after 2021.
● We may be unable to fund the capital expenditures needed for us to remain competitive in the telecommunications industry in Indonesia.
Legal and Compliance Risks
● If we are found liable for anti-competitive practices, we may be subjected to substantial liability which could have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
19
Regulatory Risks
● We operate in a legal and regulatory environment that is undergoing significant change. These changes may result in increased competition, which may result in reduced margins and operating revenue, among other things. These changes may also directly reduce our margins or reduce the costs of our competitors. These adverse changes resulting from regulation may have a material adverse effect on us.
● Enactment of the Job Creation Law and its implementing regulations.
● Regulatory changes may adversely affect our business and results of operations.
● Applicable regulations on tariffs and their implementation as supervised by the MoCI may affect our revenues and earnings.
● Regulations for the configuration of BTS towers may delay the installation of new BTS towers or changes in the placement of existing towers, and may erode our leadership position by requiring us to share our towers with our competitors.
● We may experience local community opposition to some of our tower sites.
● We are subject to numerous non-tax state revenue payments and a Universal Service Obligation Contribution ("USO Contribution").
● The interpretation and application of the anticipated enactment of a new consumer data protection regulation are uncertain and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
● Our electronic money business activity is highly regulated.
Risks Related to Development of New Businesses and Acquisitions
● We may not succeed in our efforts to develop new businesses.
● Our acquisition activities expose us to various risks.
Risks Related to our Corporate Structure
● We are dependent on our subsidiary, Telkomsel, a cellular telecommunications services and cellular telecommunications networks company.
● Our controlling shareholder's interest may differ from those of our other shareholders.
● Our Articles of Association contain certain anti-takeover provisions that could adversely affect the rights of holders of our ordinary shares and ADSs.
Risks Related to Indonesia
Political and Social Risks
● Current political and social events in Indonesia may adversely affect our business.
● Terrorist activities in Indonesia could destabilize Indonesia, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, and the market price of our securities.
20
Macro-Economic Risks
● Negative changes in global, regional or Indonesian economic activity could adversely affect our business.
● Fluctuations in the value of the Indonesian Rupiah may materially and adversely affect us.
● Downgrades of credit ratings of the Government or Indonesian companies could adversely affect our business.
Risks relating to Natural Disasters
● Indonesia is vulnerable to natural disasters and events beyond our control, which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
● We may be affected by uncertainty in the balance of power between local governments and the central government in Indonesia.
Risks related to our ADSs
● The trading price of our ADSs may be volatile, which could result in substantial losses to you.
● If securities or industry analysts do not publish research reports about us or our business, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our ADSs, the market price for our ADSs and trading volume could decline.
● The different characteristics of the capital markets in Indonesia and the U.S. may negatively affect the trading prices of our ADSs and shares.
● Our financial results are reported to the OJK in conformity with IFAS, which differs in certain respects from IFRS, and we distribute dividends based on profit for the year attributable to owners of the parent company and net income per share determined in reliance on IFAS.
● As a foreign private issuer in the U.S., we are permitted to, and we have relied and will rely on exemptions from certain NYSE corporate governance standards applicable to domestic U.S. issuers. This may afford less protection to holders of our ADSs.
● As a foreign private issuer in the U.S., we are exempt from certain disclosure requirements under the Exchange Act, which may afford less protection to holders of our ADSs than they would enjoy if we were a domestic U.S. company.
● The voting rights of holders of our ADSs are limited by the terms of the Deposit Agreement.
● Holders of our ADSs may be subject to limitations on transfer of their ADSs.
● Holders of our ADSs may not receive distributions on our ordinary shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical to make them available to them.
● Holders of our ADSs may experience dilution of their holdings due to their inability to participate in rights offerings.
● The time required for the exchange between ADSs and shares might be longer than expected and investors might not be able to settle or effect any sale of their securities during this period.
21
● We are established in Indonesia and it may not be possible for investors to effect service of process or enforce judgments, on us, our Commissioners, Directors or officers within the United States, or to enforce judgments of a foreign court against us or any of these persons in Indonesia.
Risks Related to Our Business
Operational Risks
A material failure in the continuing operations of our network, certain key systems, gateways to our network or the networks of other network operators could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
We depend to a significant degree on the uninterrupted operation of our network to provide our services. For example, we depend on access to our fixed wireline network for the operation of our fixed line network and the termination and origination of cellular telephone calls to and from fixed line telephones, and a significant portion of our cellular and international long distance call traffic is routed through the PSTN. We also depend on access to an internet and broadband network and a cellular network. Our integrated network includes a copper access network, fiber optic access network, BTSs, switching equipment, optical and radio transmission equipment, an IP Core network, satellites and application servers.
In addition, we also rely on interconnection to the networks of other telecommunications operators to carry calls and data from our subscribers to the subscribers of operators both within Indonesia and overseas. We also depend on certain technologically sophisticated management information systems and other systems, such as our customer billing system, to enable us to conduct our operations. Our network, including our information systems, IT and infrastructure and the networks of other operators with whom our subscribers are interconnected, are vulnerable to damage or interruptions in operation from a variety of sources including earthquake, fire, flood, power loss, equipment failure, network software flaws, transmission cable disruption or similar events. For example, in 2018 and 2019, a number of submarine cables that we rely on to provide services across the Indonesian archipelago were damaged mostly as a result of earthquakes. In 2020, a few submarine cables were damaged due to shunt faults (i.e., existence of a current leakage path between the power conductor and seawater without a break in the power conductor) and cuts. As a result, services in east Indonesia faced slowdowns and disruptions as we had to redirect affected traffic through satellites until the submarine cables could be restored. One of our building in Pekanbaru suffered fire damage in August 2020 and certain of our infrastructures and equipment were damaged by flood in Jakarta, Sulawesi and Kalimantan in 2020, without any such damages causing material interruption to our operations.
Although we have implemented a business continuity plan and a disaster recovery plan, which we test regularly, we cannot guarantee that the implementation of such plans will be completely or partially successful should any portion of our network be severely damaged or interrupted. Any failure that results in an interruption of our operations or of the provision of any service, whether from operational disruption, natural disaster or otherwise, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may be required to share our network infrastructure and capacity with our competitors
Under the Job Creation Law and Government Regulation No. 46 of 2021 on Post, Telecommunication and Broadcasting ("GR No.46/2021"), telecommunication service providers with passive telecommunication infrastructure (e.g., ducts, towers, poles, or communication manholes, among others) has to give access to its passive telecommunication infrastructure to other telecommunication providers. GR No.46/2021 states that such use of passive telecommunication infrastructure must be based on cooperation and mutual agreement between the parties involved in a fair, reasonable and non-discriminative manner.
Further, a telecommunication service provider with active telecommunication and/or broadcasting infrastructure may give access to such active infrastructure to other telecommunication provider as agreed mutually and in furtherance of fair business competition. This may be achieved by leasing of network capacity to other telecommunication providers.
22
It remains to be seen how these new provisions will affect our business and our relations with other telecommunication players in Indonesia. We cannot assure you that the Government will adopt final terms which we will consider to be commercially reasonable. For example, we cannot assure you that any subsequent or implementing regulations will allow us to charge competitors who lease our network capacity fees at rates which we will consider to be commercially acceptable. If such regulations were to be implemented, it could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our operations have been and may continue to be adversely affected by an outbreak of an infectious disease, such as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) or other epidemics
An outbreak, or the fear of an outbreak of any severe infectious disease such as diseases caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the H5N1 avian flu or the human swine flu (H1N1) or a similar communicable diseases, if uncontrolled, or restrictions or containment measures taken by the governments of affected countries, including Indonesia, could have a material adverse effect on the overall business sentiment in Indonesia and in economies where we carry out our business, on Indonesian and international consumers' confidence and purchasing behavior, and in turn, on demand for our products and services. Most recently, in January 2020, an outbreak of COVID-19 believed to have started in Wuhan, Hubei, China, spread aggressively in multiple countries, including Indonesia, other countries in Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. The World Health Organization (the "WHO") declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a "pandemic" on March 11, 2020. On April 13, 2020, the President of Indonesia issued Presidential Decree No. 12 of 2020 declaring the current COVID-19 pandemic a national disaster. Various measures have been implemented to contain the outbreak in certain regions and countries, resulting in extensive government-imposed restrictions and containment measures, including restrictions on domestic and international travel, restrictions on public gatherings, social distancing, office and school closures, and local or general "stay at home" or quarantine orders. Such measures have resulted in a period of business disruptions, including prolonged disruptions to manufacturing and global supply chains as well as restrictions on business activities and the movement of people comprising a significant portion of the world’s population, and a decrease in economic activities in several countries, including Indonesia. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak or other epidemics or outbreak of infectious diseases, similar or more stringent measures could be taken that may further worsen the Indonesian economy and the global economy.
If the current COVID-19 outbreak or other epidemics or outbreaks of infectious diseases were to develop and persist, customers may delay, suspend or decrease orders for our products and services, and demand for certain of our products and services may decrease. Our distribution network and retail outlets may also experience significant disruption due to physical distancing measures and other containment measures. Our ability to provide services to our clients that require our teams to access their homes or offices may also be negatively impacted. Such disruptions did occur in the year ended December 31, 2020 but did not significantly affect our operations, business and results of operations. Regardless of enhanced hygiene and precautionary measures to safeguard the safety and health of our employees and customers, we could be subject to labor shortages or suspension of work if certain of our personnel, in Indonesia or elsewhere, were to become infected with the disease or restrictions and containment measures described above were to affect their ability to reach our offices and outlets. Our operations may also be significantly and adversely affected if government-imposed restrictions or other containment measures require us to suspend our operations, partially or entirely. Finally, the negative impact of the outbreak on the global economy may increase counterparty risks or increase difficulties in collecting fees, which may negatively impact our cashflows, delay certain of our projects, and reduce our ability to access capital or increase financing costs.
23
As at the date hereof, the potential economic impact on Indonesia and the global economy brought by, and the duration of, the COVID-19 pandemic is highly uncertain, subject to change and difficult to estimate or predict. There is no assurance that the outbreak of COVID-19 in Indonesia or elsewhere can be effectively controlled, or that another disease outbreak will not happen in the future. Whereas we are closely monitoring the current situation and potential developments, there is still uncertainty as to the full extent of the above-described potential delays and disruptions on our business, operations, prospects and results of operations.
Our networks face both potential physical and cyber security threats, such as theft, vandalism and acts intended to disrupt our operations, which could adversely affect our operating results
Our networks and equipment, particularly our wireline access network, face both potential physical and cyber security threats. Physical threats include theft and vandalism of our equipment and organized attacks against key infrastructure intended to disrupt operations. In addition, telecommunications companies worldwide face increasing cyber security threats as businesses become increasingly dependent on telecommunications and computer networks, and adopt cloud technologies. Cyber security threats include gaining unauthorized access to our systems or inserting computer viruses or malicious software in our systems to misappropriate consumer data and other sensitive information, corrupt our data or disrupt our operations. Unauthorized access may also be gained through traditional means such as the theft of computers, portable data devices or mobile phones and intelligence gathering on employees with access to our systems.
Although we have not experienced any material successful cyberattacks to date that have affected our operations, our network and website are frequently targeted by cyberattacks. For example, in October 2018, PT Telkom Satelit Indonesia's ("Telkomsat") corporate website was defaced. The content on the homepage was altered, which left customers unable to access the site for part of one day, before the site was restored. In 2020, we detected 49.44 million cyber threats to our servers. Almost all of those threats were non-disruptive and only 78 of them raised to the level of issues we needed to specifically address, which we did successfully and promptly. In addition, we cannot guarantee that safety procedures we have in place and our intrusion detection systems may always prove efficient against illegal access to our internal data and databases, customers', suppliers and other parties' data hosted on our systems. If we are unable to prevent such attacks or successfully detect such intrusions in a timely manner or at all, such data could be misappropriated and illegally used or disseminated. While none of these cyberattacks have caused significant losses to date, a successful cyberattack may lead us to incur substantial costs to repair damage or restore data, implement substantial organizational changes and training to prevent future similar attacks and lost revenues and litigation costs due to misused sensitive information, liabilities for information loss, breach of confidentiality of private information, and cause substantial reputational damage. Cyberattacks may also cause equipment failures, loss of information, including sensitive information or information stored in our customers' computer systems and mobile phone systems, failure or perceived failure to comply with applicable privacy, security or data protection laws, as well as disruption to our operations or our customers' operations. Furthermore, it might be difficult to calculate the economic costs caused by potential cyber security incidents and maintain sufficient insurance coverage relating to them at commercially reasonable rates and terms. Eliminating computer viruses and other security problems may also require interruptions, delays or suspension of our services, reduce our customer satisfaction and cause us to incur additional costs. Due to the evolving nature of cyber security threats, the scope and impact of any future incident cannot be precisely predicted. We take preventive and remedial measures with respect to our systems, including enhanced cooperation with the police, particularly in areas prone to criminal activity and regular updates of our information system security measures. While we believe that we have taken appropriate measures to protect our network, there is no assurance that these physical and cyber security measures will be successful. Damage to our network, equipment or data and the need to repair such damage resulting from a physical or cyberattack may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
We face a number of risks relating to our internet-related services
In addition to cyber security threats, since we provide connections to the internet and host websites for customers and develop internet content and applications, we may be perceived as being associated with the content carried over our network or displayed on websites that we host. For example, in the past, due to an escalation in spam messages generated from email addresses on the Telkom network, Telkom was placed on certain DNS blacklists which blocked all email generated from Telkom addresses for almost a week until remedial measures could be put into place. This did not occur in 2020 as anti-spam tools already deployed into our systems significantly mitigated the effect of cyberattacks on our systems.
24
While we have made certain administrative and technical adjustments to identify and combat spam, we cannot assure you that such measures will always be effective and that we would not be placed on certain DNS blacklists again in the future. In addition, the content carried over our network or the websites that we host may contain materials or information which may be illegal, defamatory, impermissible or infringe on third party copyrights. We cannot and do not screen all of this content and may face litigation claims due to a perceived association with such content. These types of claims can be costly to defend, divert management resources and attention, and may damage our reputation.
A revenue leakage might occur due to internal weaknesses or external factors and if this risk were to materialize, it could have an adverse effect on our operating results
We may face revenue leakage or problems with collecting all the revenues to which we may be entitled, due to the possibility of inaccurate billing, delays in transaction processing, dishonest customers or other factors. Further, our services might be susceptible to piracy and unauthorized usage. Such piracy and unauthorized usage may lead to a loss of revenue for our Group which may affect our financial conditions and results of operations. For example, in recent years the use of simboxes, which are electronic boxes that use cell phone antennae or a BTS on which local operator SIM cards are installed so that international calls can be fraudulently terminated through local numbers so that the fraudster can bypass interconnection rates in the destination country, have led to a loss of revenue for our Group.
We have taken certain preventive measures to mitigate the possibility of revenue leakage by increasing control functions in all of our existing business processes, increasing cooperation and information sharing between operational units to detect potential fraud, implementing revenue assurance methods, employing adequate policies and procedures as well as implementing information systems applications to minimize revenue leakages. Nonetheless, there is no assurance that in the future there will be no significant revenue leakages or that any such leakages will not have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
New technologies may adversely affect our ability to remain competitive
The telecommunications industry is characterized by rapid and significant changes in technology. We may face increasing competition due to technologies under development or which may be developed in the future. Future development or application of new or alternative technologies, services or standards could require significant changes to our business model, the development of new products, the provision of additional services and substantial new investments by us. New products and services may be expensive to develop and may result in the introduction of additional competitors into the marketplace. We cannot accurately predict how emerging and future technological changes will affect our operations or the competitiveness of our services. Furthermore, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to effectively integrate new technologies into our existing business model.
One of the main challenges faced by the telecommunications industry in Indonesia is the increasing use of Over The Top services that has become a substitute for voice and SMS services, in line with the growing number of smartphone users. In particular, the percentage contribution from cellular phone services to our consolidated revenues has declined from 26.3% for 2018 to 14.2% for 2020. This has happened not only in Indonesia, but also in developed countries where smartphone penetration is high. In addition, we face a continuing risk of market entry by new operators and service providers (including non-telecommunications players and Over The Top players) who, by using newer or lower cost technologies, may succeed in rapidly attracting customers away from established market participants such as ourselves. This may result in a loss of market share and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In particular, the rapid development of new technologies, new services and products, and new business models has resulted in distinctions between local, long distance, wireless, cable and internet communication services entry barriers being lessened and has brought new competitors into the telecommunications market. For example, the increased availability of high-throughput satellite capacity in Indonesia has increased competition, and adversely affected pricing, for our satellite business.
We cannot assure you that our technologies will not become obsolete, or be subjected to competition from new technologies in the future, or that we will be able to acquire new technologies necessary to compete in changed circumstances on commercially acceptable terms. Our failure to react to rapid technological changes could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Expected benefits from investment in new networks and technologies may not be realized
We may pursue new growth opportunities in the communications industry in the future, including introducing services and products employing new technologies, such as next generation mobile technologies, 5G, virtualization, software-defined networking, cloud based technologies, new video and content delivery platforms and digital marketing. The implementation of these new technologies depends on a number of factors, including developing our network and the launch of new and commercially viable products and services involving these technologies. We may have to incur substantial expenditure to develop our network, services and products and to gain access to related or enabling technologies in order to successfully implement these new technologies. We may not be successful in modifying our network infrastructure in a timely and cost-effective manner to facilitate such implementation, which could adversely affect our quality of service, financial condition and results of operations.
Further, we may face the risk of unforeseen complications in the deployment of new technologies. Any newly adopted technology may not perform as expected, and we may not be able to successfully or on a timely basis to develop the new technology to effectively and economically deliver services based on such technology.
Our satellites have limited operational life and they may be damaged or destroyed during in-orbit operation or suffer launch delays or failures. The loss or reduced performance of a satellite, whether caused by equipment failure or its license being revoked, may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and ability to provide certain services
We operate three satellites, namely Telkom-2, Telkom-3S and the Merah Putih Satellite. These satellites have limited operational lives, and their design lives ended or will end approximately in 2020, 2032 and 2033, respectively. Following an assessment from its manufacturer, Telkom-2's operational life can be extended beyond December 2020 and we expect to operate this satellite until May 2021. A number of factors affect the operational lives of satellites, including the quality of their construction, the durability of their systems, sub-systems and component parts, on-board fuel reserves, accuracy of their launch into orbit, exposure to micrometeorite storms, or other natural events in space, collision with orbital debris, or the manner in which the satellite is monitored and operated. We use satellite transponder capacity on our satellites in connection with many aspects of our business, including direct leasing of such capacity and routing for our international long distance and cellular services.
International Telecommunication Union regulations specify that a designated satellite orbital slot has been allocated for Indonesia and the Government has the right to determine which party is licensed to use such slot. While we hold a license to use the designated satellite orbital slot, in the event any of our satellites experience technical problems or failure, the Government may determine that we have failed to optimize the existing slot under our license, which may result in the Government withdrawing our license. We cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain use of the designated satellite orbital slot in a manner deemed satisfactory by the Government.
Risks Related to our Fixed and Cellular Telecommunications Business
Competition from existing cellular service providers may adversely affect our cellular services business
The Indonesian cellular service business is highly competitive. Competition among cellular service providers in Indonesia is based on various factors, including pricing, network quality and coverage, the range of services, features offered and customer service. With the increasing popularity of smart phones in Indonesia, we believe that data network quality and coverage, including 4G/LTE coverage, will increasingly become an intense area of competition. In recent years, competitors have offered promotions such as bonus data packages in order to attract customers, which has generally made the pricing environment in Indonesia less profitable. In 2019, the intensity of downward pressure on selling prices decreased but this trend reversed in 2020. Since early 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak created uncertainty and a general economic slowdown in Indonesia that impacted consumers' purchasing power and, as a result, translated into lower consumer spending. This accelerated a shift from Telkomsel's legacy business to its data services and generally exacerbated competition among operators, which translated into increased downward pressure on selling prices. This competition is likely to continue, particularly as telecommunications companies are affected by increased competition from Over The Top providers. In 2020, a number of our competitors continued to increase their coverage by expanding outside Java.
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For tariffs which are within the scope of the Job Creation Law, variations in selling prices may be limited because the Government may determine upper and lower limits based on public interest and fair business competition principles. Upper limits may be determined in areas where only one telecommunications operator operates. Lower limits may be determined based on the Government's assessment of prevailing market conditions (for instance to prevent unfair business competition). The implementing regulations of such law, however, have yet to be passed.
Our cellular services business, operated through our majority-owned subsidiary Telkomsel, competes primarily with Indosat and XL Axiata. However, we are also facing increased competition from smaller operators that provide cellular services in Indonesia, including PT Hutchison 3 Indonesia ("Hutchison"), which is part of the Hutchison Asia Telecom Group and operates under the "3" or "Tri" brand and PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk ("Smartfren Telecom"), which is part of the Sinar Mas Group.
There has been and we expect there could be further consolidation in our industry in the future. For instance, XL Axiata completed the acquisition of a majority interest in and merged with PT Axis Telekom in 2014, which resulted in XL Axiata acquiring additional frequency allocations to provide 4G/LTE services as well as acquiring the customers of PT Axis Telekom. In December 2020, CK Hutchison and Qatar’s Ooredoo announced they had entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding and initiated negotiations for combining their operations in Indonesia, subject to satisfactory completion of such negotiations and meeting certain requirements, including obtaining required regulatory approvals. Furthermore, we believe any merger or consolidation in the industry will help to promote a healthier competition between operators as well as better cost efficiencies and reduce overlapping in many areas.
Additional consolidation among cellular services providers may occur which may be driven by competitive factors as well as efforts to reduce operating costs and obtain wider spectrum allocation. In addition, the Government tends to encourage consolidation, including through the enactment of the Job Creation Law which regulates, among other things, telecommunications clusters, in an effort to promote healthier competition among fewer industry players with a better cost-efficiency profile and wider spectrum allocations.
Consolidation of competitors for cellular services may allow them to expand the geographic coverage of their integrated network infrastructure. In recent years, both Telkomsel and its competitors have acquired wider spectrum allocations as part of the Government's spectrum refarming initiative. In 2019, we entered into a refarming arrangement with Indosat which was approved by the Government. This has allowed them to improve the quality of their cellular services as well as to expand the amount of traffic that they can service through their network, which may allow them to expand their services and increase revenues. Furthermore, the Job Creation Law allows telecommunications operators to share network infrastructure and capacity on a B2B basis while applicable tariffs will remain determined by the operators and/or will remain based on the tariff formula as set out by the ICT ministry. Details relating to the implementation of such law are still unknown as at the date hereof since the implementing regulations have not been passed yet. See "— We may, in the future, be required to share our network infrastructure and capacity with our competitors." As the telecommunications operator with the most extensive network infrastructure in Indonesia, if capacity and network sharing pursuant to such regulation were not implemented on a B2B basis and such regulation were to become effective, it would allow our competitors to take advantage of our existing infrastructure without significant capital expenditure, which would have a significant impact on competition.
As a result, any of these developments may present challenges for Telkomsel in maintaining its market position and could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
We may further lose wireline telephone subscribers and revenues derived from our wireline voice services may continue to decline, which may materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and prospects
Revenues derived from our wireline voice services have declined during the past several years mainly due to the increasing popularity of mobile voice services and other alternative means of communication. Tariffs for mobile services have declined in recent years which has further accelerated substitution of mobile for wireline voice services. The number of our fixed wireline subscribers decreased by 2.7% in 2020 and revenues from our wireline voice services decreased by 27.2% in 2020. The percentage of revenues derived from our wireline voice services out of our total revenues was 1.6% in 2020.
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Since the beginning of 2015, we have taken various steps to stabilize our revenues from wireline voice services by seeking to migrate subscribers to IndiHome, a service which bundles fixed broadband internet, fixed wireline phone and interactive TV services. However, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in mitigating the adverse impact of the substitution of mobile voice services and other alternative means of communication for wireline voice services or in reducing the rate of decline in our revenues generated from wireline voice services. Migration from wireline voice services to mobile services and other alternative means of communication may further intensify in the future, which may affect the financial performance of our wireline voice services and thus materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and prospects as a whole.
Our data and internet services are facing increasing competition, and we may experience declining margins and/or market share from such services as such competition intensifies
Our data and internet services are facing increased competition from other data and internet operators, including mobile operators. The number of mobile broadband subscribers have increased with the increasing popularity of smart phones in Indonesia, which adversely affects our market share and revenues from our fixed line data and internet services.
In addition, with the increasing popularity of smart phones in Indonesia, data and internet services have become an intense area of competition in our industry. We have been taking various measures in order to mitigate the impact of intense competition in our data and internet businesses. However, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in mitigating such adverse impact. Competition may further intensify in the future, which may affect the financial performance of our data and internet services and thus materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and prospects as a whole.
Cellular network congestion and limited spectrum availability could limit our cellular subscriber growth and cause reductions in our cellular service quality
We expect to continue to offer promotional plans to attract subscribers and increase usage of our network by our cellular subscribers, in particular during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak. We also expect to continue to promote our data services and fixed broadband services. While we believe that we have sufficient spectrum allocation to support our current business, we may in the future need to acquire additional spectrum allocation to accommodate future growth in subscribers and traffic. As a result, we may experience increased network congestion, which may affect our network performance and damage our reputation with our subscribers. The Government occasionally conducts auctions for unused spectrum allocation. We seek to secure as much of the available spectrum as we expect is needed for our operations but, as this is a scarce resource and allocations are subject to regulatory factors which may change over time (such as auction rules) and other considerations, such as fair business conduct and fair competition, we cannot guarantee that we will always be in a position to secure spectrum allocations consistent with our expectations or strategic objectives.
Moreover, the increase in smartphone applications that rely on data services has resulted in the significant amount of data traffic and cellular network congestion. To support such additional demands on our network, we may be required to make significant capital expenditures to improve our network coverage. Such additional capital expenditures, together with the possible degradation of our cellular services, could materially and adversely affect our competitive position, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
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Continuing growth in and the converging nature of wireless and broadband services will require us to deploy increasing amounts of capital and require ongoing access to spectrum in order to provide attractive services to customers
Telecommunications services are undergoing rapid and significant technological changes and a dramatic increase in usage, in particular, the demand for faster and seamless usage of video and data across mobile and fixed devices. We continually invest in our networks in order to improve our wireless and broadband services to meet this increasing demand and remain competitive. Improvements in these services depend on many factors, including continued access to and deployment of adequate spectrum and the capital needed to expand our network to support transport of these services. We must maintain and expand our network capacity and coverage for transport of video, data and voice between cell and fixed landline sites. To this end, we have participated in spectrum auctions, at increasing financial cost, and continue to deploy technology advancements in order to further improve our network. Further, we must pay an annual right of usage fee for the license in case of our winning additional spectrum, such as the additional 30 MHz spectrum at 2.3 GHz frequency we won at an auction in October 2017.
Network service enhancements and product launches may not occur as scheduled or at the cost expected due to many factors, including delays in determining equipment and wireless handset operating standards, supplier delays, increases in network equipment and handset component costs, regulatory permitting delays for tower sites or enhancements, or labor-related delays. Deployment of new technology also may adversely affect the performance of the network for existing services. If we cannot acquire the required spectrum or deploy the services customers desire on a timely basis and at a reasonable price, then our ability to attract and retain customers, and therefore maintain and improve our operating margins, could be materially adversely affected.
Our continued investments in the construction of our infrastructure network may not adequately address the issues resulting from the substantial increases in data traffic or otherwise achieve the desired economic returns
We regularly review our network capability, advantage, and capacity availability and continue to make substantial investments in the construction of our infrastructure network, including our 4G/LTE infrastructure, to carry the increasing data traffic.
Our wireless data traffic business has experienced significant growth in recent years, which contributed to the growth of our operating revenue and provides our business with further opportunities for development. The COVID-19 outbreak had an impact on consumption habits with more people working and learning from home, which positively impacted data traffic and shifted traffic from business districts to residential areas. We expect a continued and substantial increase in data traffic not only as a result of changes in consumption habits and consumers' behavior but also as a result of our efforts to make our data services affordable at a time where purchasing power and disposable income have been negatively affected. We launched our 4G/LTE services in 2014 and the substantial increase in data traffic resulting from the growth of our wireless data traffic business, our 4G/LTE business and the proliferation of smartphones had significantly strained the existing capacity of our telecommunications network infrastructure. As a result, based on our anticipation of further significant traffic data growth, we have made and will continue to make substantial investments in the construction of our infrastructure network, including our 4G/LTE infrastructure, to carry the increasing data traffic. However, our ability to improve or expand our infrastructure network is subject to various factors, a number of which are not within our control, such as regulations and changes in regulations, changes to the competitive environment or technological developments that could adversely affect our ability to improve or expand our infrastructure network as expected or desired and achieve anticipated returns on our investments.
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We are subject to the control of the Government
The Government, through the MSOE, owns 52.09% of our issued share capital. Consequently, the Government effectively controls the outcome of matters requiring the vote of our shareholders, including the composition of our boards of Directors and Commissioners, and determining the timing and amount of dividend payments. The Government has historically influenced, and is likely to continue to influence, our strategy and operations. In addition, the Government owns a Dwiwarna Share in our Company which gives the Government, represented by the MSOE, certain rights such as the right to veto with regards to the nomination, appointment and removal of our Directors and Commissioners, the issuance of new shares and any amendments to our Articles of Association. The rights of the Government attached to this Dwiwarna Share limit the ability of public shareholders to influence certain matters relating to our Company. Under our Articles of Association, the Government cannot transfer the Dwiwarna Share. The Government's rights with respect to the Dwiwarna Share will not terminate unless our articles of association are amended, which would require the approval of the Government as holder of the Dwiwarna Share. See "Relationship with the Government and Government Agencies — The Government as Shareholder."
There can be no assurance that the Government will exercise its control and influence to our benefit. For example, the Government may request us to enter into transactions which are not in our best interests. In addition, there can also be no assurance that we will ever become independent of our Government shareholder or even if we do become independent, that we will be able to exercise any such independence effectively in making decisions concerning our business and prospects, including decisions concerning compensation from the Government when we act in the public interest. If we agree to act in the public interest and are not adequately compensated by the Government, our business, prospects, financial condition, liquidity and result of operations may be materially and adversely affected, which would limit our ability to compete effectively and expand our business.
Financial Risks
We are exposed to interest rate risk and risks inherent to potential changes in relevant benchmarks and indices, including changes to the administration of certain benchmarks or their future discontinuation, such as the potential phasing out of LIBOR after 2021
Our debt includes bank borrowings used to finance our operations. In order to reduce our exposure to interest rate fluctuations, we aim to balance the share of our fixed rate loans and floating rate loans in our bank borrowings. We try to achieve this where there are opportunities to increase the share of fixed-rate loans in our overall loan portfolio in light of prevailing interest rates available in the market at any given time and based on market and our expectations as to future floating and fixed interest rates. As of December 31, 2020, approximately 58.7% (based on the aggregate then outstanding principal) of our total bank borrowings were floating-rate loans.
Changes in the macro-economic environment worldwide due to on-going trade disputes between the United States and China and the COVID-19 outbreak also had an impact on Southeast Asia and Indonesia. In an effort to support the Indonesian Rupiah and the Indonesian economy, Bank Indonesia decreased its benchmark interest rate five times in 2020 to 3.75%.
Moreover, reference rates and indices, including interest rate benchmarks (such as the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR"), the Euro Interbank Offered Rate ("EURIBOR"), or the Jakarta Interbank Offered Rate ("JIBOR")), which are used to determine the amounts payable under financial instruments or the value of such financial instruments ("Benchmarks"), have, in recent years, been the subject of political and regulatory scrutiny as to how they are created and operated. This has resulted, particularly in the United Kingdom, in regulatory reform and changes to existing Benchmarks, with further changes anticipated. This could increase the costs and risks of complying with any such regulations or requirements.
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For example, LIBOR has been questioned as a result of the absence of relevant active underlying markets and possible disincentives for market participants to continue contributing to such benchmarks. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it does not intend to continue to persuade, or use its powers to compel, panel banks to submit rates for the calculation of the LIBOR benchmark to the administrator of LIBOR after 2021 (the "FCA Announcement"). The FCA Announcement indicated that the continuation of LIBOR on the current basis cannot and will not be guaranteed after 2021. Subsequent speeches by FCA officials have emphasized that market participants should not rely on the continued publication of LIBOR after 2021. Furthermore, on December 4, 2020, the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) published a consultation on its intention to cease the publication of LIBOR. Based on feedback and information received from LIBOR panel banks, and following discussions with the FCA and other official sector bodies, IBA made announcements on November 18, 2020, and November 30, 2020, that it would consult on its intention to cease certain LIBOR publications on specific dates, subject to any rights of the FCA to compel IBA to continue publication.
Following the implementation of any such changes, reforms or potential reforms, the manner of administration of LIBOR, EURIBOR or other benchmark indices such as JIBOR may change, with the result that it may perform differently than in the past or benchmarks could be eliminated entirely. Any of the above changes or any other consequential changes as a result of international or national reforms or other initiatives or investigations could have an adverse effect on the interest paid on our floating-rate loans that are linked to, reference or otherwise are dependent (in whole or in part) upon a benchmark. As of December 31, 2020, however, the aggregate outstanding amount of our floating rate loans that use LIBOR or EURIBOR as reference rates was insignificant. Nonetheless, the uncertainty as to whether LIBOR will survive in its current form or at all may lead to adverse market conditions, which may have an adverse effect on access to liquidity and debt refinancing in the future.
We may be unable to fund the capital expenditures needed for us to remain competitive in the telecommunications industry in Indonesia
The delivery of telecommunications services is capital intensive. In order to be competitive, we must continually expand, modernize and update our telecommunications infrastructure technology, which involves substantial capital investment. For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, our consolidated capital expenditures totaled Rp33,620 billion, Rp36,485 billion and Rp29,279 billion (US$2,084 million), respectively. We expect the decrease in our capital expenditure in 2020 to be temporary as such decrease did not reflect a decrease in our funding capacity, but rather the impact of practical and operational difficulties relating to the deployment of such expenditures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures implemented in Indonesia, as well as weaker growth in demand from IndiHome subscribers since the number of IndiHome subscribers increased by 1.0 million in 2020 compared with a 1.9 million increase in 2019. Our ability to fund capital expenditures in the future will depend on our future operating performance, which is subject to prevailing economic conditions, levels of interest rates and financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, and upon our ability to obtain additional external financing. Even if we have not experienced any difficulties in securing loan facilities and we expect our current credit profile would allow us to secure new loan facilities as necessary, we cannot assure you that additional financing will be available to us on commercially acceptable terms, or at all, in the future. In addition, we can only incur additional financing in compliance with the terms of our debt agreements. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will have sufficient capital resources to improve or expand our telecommunications infrastructure technology or update our other technologies to the extent necessary to remain competitive in the Indonesian telecommunications market. Our failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
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Legal and Compliance Risks
If we are found liable for anti-competitive practices, we may be subjected to substantial liability which could have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
We are subject to laws and regulations relating to anti-competitive practices and anti-monopoly. Law No.5 of 1999 on Prohibition of Monopolistic Practice and Unfair Business Competition (the "Business Competition Law") prohibits agreements and activities which amount to unfair business competition and an abuse of a dominant market position. Pursuant to the Business Competition Law, the KPPU was established as Indonesia's antitrust regulator with the authority to enforce the provisions of the Business Competition Law.
In 2016, our Company, Telkomsel, and five other local operators were found to have violated the Business Competition Law for price-fixing practices related to SMS services. We and Telkomsel have paid penalties to the treasury fund in the amount of Rp18 billion and Rp25 billion, respectively.
In 2017, it was alleged that we had violated the Business Competition Law by selling our bundling program which is marketed under the retail brand "IndiHome." This product allows customers to choose one or more of our services, which consist primarily of broadband internet, fixed wireline phone and interactive TV services, at a competitive price. Although KPPU held that we did not violate the provisions in the Business Competition Law, the case highlights the risk that our business strategy could be challenged by our customers or regulators.
In November 2018, we received a summons from the KPPU regarding unspecified allegations of violations of Business Competition Law. We are in the process of gathering information for further discussion with KPPU, but we have not received any information on the exact subject matter of or reason for such investigation. Our policy is to collaborate fully with KPPU and their investigation. Based on communication with KPPU, we do not expect KPPU to further investigate such allegations and, as at the date hereof, we are expecting a formal written confirmation from them that such process has been terminated.
In November 2019, we received a summons from the KPPU regarding alleged violations of the Business Competition Law relating to Telkom and Telkomsel's policy on blocking access to Netflix. Telkom has provided information in response to the investigation conducted by the KPPU and conveyed that Telkom found itself obliged to take such temporary measures to protect consumers from potential losses (e.g. despite the subscription payment, consumers are exposed to potential risk of not being able to enjoy Netflix's services if Netflix, and/or access from Indonesia to all or part of the contents they provide is banned by the Government, and also, the content Netflix provides may not be suitable for Indonesian viewers) as Telkom considers that as at the date hereof, Netflix has not yet fully complied with Indonesian regulations regarding media content, especially in relation to censorship laws. In 2020, Telkom has responded to KPPU's requests relating to its investigation into this matter. The investigation was extended to address alleged discriminatory behavior of Telkom acting as an Internet Access Provider. On April 29, 2021, KPPU concluded those proceedings when it ruled that it had not been established that either Telkom or Telkomsel had violated the Business Competition Law as previously alleged. This decision is final.
In November 2019, we also received a summons from the KPPU regarding alleged violations of the Business Competition Law relating to Telkom's Internet Protocol Transit Business in Papua. In December 2019, we provided clarifications regarding this matter as requested by the KPPU. We received a second summons from the KPPU in August 2020 that we responded to on August 7, 2020.
We cannot assure you that any new or existing governmental regulators will not, in the future, find our business practices to have an anti-competitive effect, nor can we assure you that we will not be found to have violated the relevant laws and regulations relating to anti-competition and anti-monopoly in the future. If we are found to have violated any laws and regulations relating to anti-competition and anti-monopoly, we may be subjected to substantial liability such as payments of fines, the amount of which will be subject to the discretion of the courts, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
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Regulatory Risks
We operate in a legal and regulatory environment that is undergoing significant change. These changes may result in increased competition, which may result in reduced margins and operating revenue, among other things. These changes may also directly reduce our margins or reduce the costs of our competitors. These adverse changes resulting from regulation may have a material adverse effect on us
Reform of Indonesian telecommunications regulations initiated by the Government in 1999 have, to a certain extent, resulted in the industry's liberalization, including removal of barriers to entry and the promotion of competition. However, in recent years, the volume and complexity of regulatory changes has created an environment of considerable regulatory uncertainty. In addition, as the legal and regulatory environment of the Indonesian telecommunications sector continue to change, competitors, potentially with greater resources than us, may enter the Indonesian telecommunications sector and compete with us in providing telecommunications services. Furthermore, it is impossible to anticipate the regulatory policies that will be applied to new technologies.
We derive substantial revenue from interconnection services because we have the largest network in Indonesia and our competitors must pay tariffs to connect to our network. As regulated by the MoCI, although SMS interconnection rates increased from Rp23 to Rp24, as a result of ITRB No.60/BRTI/III/2014 and No.125/BRTI/IV/2014 effective April 2014, through December 31, 2015, SMS interconnection rates have been decreasing in recent years and may decrease again in the future. As a result, our revenue from interconnection services may decrease in the future if SMS interconnection rates, as regulated by the MoCI, continue to decrease.
The Government has announced its plan (and has already circulated a white paper) to gradually shift the existing interconnection services regime to be IP-based. It is expected that, in 2025, all interconnection services will be IP-based and existing interconnection services (e.g., SMS) would only be part of the value added service. As of the date hereof, amendments to MoCI Regulation No.8/2006 are being prepared to accommodate IP-based interconnection services during a transition period to allow operators able to use such technology to do so. If this governmental initiative materializes, we may need to significantly change our existing infrastructure (which our competitors rely on in carrying out conventional interconnection services and pay tariffs to us) with the new technologies. Consequently, our revenue from interconnection services may decrease, and we may need to reserve costs to procure new infrastructures.
In the future, the Government may announce or implement other regulatory changes which may adversely affect our business or our existing licenses. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully with other domestic or foreign telecommunications operators, that regulatory changes will not disproportionately reduce our competitors' costs or disproportionately reduce our revenues, or that regulatory changes, amendments or interpretations of current or future laws and regulations will not have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.
In addition to Indonesian laws and regulations, due to the nature of our business and the services we provide, we may be subject to the laws and regulations of other jurisdictions where we operate or have customers. In particular, regulators in various jurisdictions are increasingly scrutinizing how companies collect, process, use and analyze, store, share and transmit personal data. This increased scrutiny may result in new interpretations of existing laws, thereby further impacting our business. Recent regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), which went into effect in the European Union ("EU") on May 25, 2018, apply to the collection, use, retention, security, processing, and transfer of personally identifiable information of residents of certain countries, such as EU member states in the case of the GDPR. The GDPR created a range of new compliance obligations, and imposes significant fines and sanctions for violations. In Indonesia, the draft data protection bill, which has adopted the contents of the GDPR, has been submitted to the House of Representatives of Indonesia (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat or "DPR") in February 2020 and, as at the date hereof, is still being discussed with the Government. As a result, there is still uncertainty as to the scope of the data protection bill, including the scope and nature of exemptions from the rights of personal data owners where such data are aggregated for various purposes, such as statistical and scientific research, which could negatively impact the development of big data applications and businesses in Indonesia until such matters are settled.
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Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with any applicable regulatory requirements or orders, including but not limited to privacy, data protection, information security, or consumer protection related privacy laws and regulations, could result in proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or individuals, subject us to fines, penalties, and/or judgments, or otherwise adversely affect our business, as our reputation could be negatively impacted.
Regulatory changes may adversely affect our business and results of operations
We operate in a regulated environment, and our telecommunications operations are mainly regulated by the MoCI. We are also required to comply with applicable information and technology, and consumer data protection laws and regulations in carrying out our activities. Future regulatory changes, particularly with respect to telecommunications network, telecommunications services, and data protection may generate incremental costs and delays, thereby adversely affecting our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, licenses obtained by us under applicable Indonesian laws and regulations may be subject to conditions, compliance with which may be expensive, difficult or impossible. It is possible that governmental authorities could take enforcement actions against us for our failure to comply with such regulations, including the aforementioned conditions. These enforcement actions could result, among other things, in the imposition of fines or the revocation of our licenses. Compliance with such regulations could require us to make substantial capital expenditures and consequently divert funds from our planned construction projects. We could also experience delays in our business schedules as a result of such compliance efforts. Each of the above could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
Applicable regulations on tariffs and their implementation as supervised by the Indonesian Telecommunication Regulatory Authority ("ITRA") may affect our revenues and earnings
The Government does not set a fixed amount or specified range of tariff that must be charged by telecommunications operators to their customers. However, the Government does set out formulas that telecommunications operators like us must refer to in determining the tariff for their services. MoCI Regulation No.15/PER/M.KOMINFO/4/2008 on Guidelines for Tariff Determination on Basic Telephone Service Distributed through Fixed Line ("MoCI Regulation No.15/2008") and MoCI Regulation No.09/PER/M.KOMINFO/04/2008 on Guidelines for Tariff Determination on Telecommunication Service Distributed through Mobile Cellular Network ("MoCI Regulation No.09/2008") are the applicable regulations for tariff calculation and determination relating to basic telephony and cellular services. Tariff formulation for our internet telephony services for retail customers is subject to MoCI Regulation No.8 of 2017 on Provision of Internet Telephony Service for Public ("MoCI Regulation No.8/2017"). In October 2019, MoCI issued new regulation MoCI Regulation No.13 of 2019 on Provision of Telecommunication Services ("MoCI Regulation No.13/2019") that was expected to revoke and replace MoCI Regulation No.8/2017 from April 25, 2020. MoCI Regulation No.2/2020 ("MoCI Regulation No.2/2020") amended MoCI Regulation No.13/2019 which postponed the effectiveness of MoCI Regulation No.13 of 2019 to January 31, 2021.
Neither MoCI Regulation No.8/2017 nor MoCI Regulation No.13/2019 discuss at length the formula that we must apply in determining tariff for internet telephony services as a telecommunications operator. While MoCI Regulation 13/2019 requires operators to follow the relevant MoCI guidelines, as of the date hereof, MoCI has not yet published such guidelines. MoCI Regulation No. 8/2017 requires operators to determine the internet telephony services tariff following a cost-based calculation in a manner that (i) accounts for investments in the telecommunications network, (ii) accounts for investments in infrastructure relating to internet telephony services, and (iii) ensures the tariff for internet telephony services corresponds to the applicable tariff for basic telephony services. We understand that, pending publication of the expected MoCI guidelines on the tariff for internet telephony services for retail customers in accordance with MoCI Regulation No.13/2019, operators are expected to follow the existing tariff determination process based on MoCI Regulation No.8/2017.
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The formulas set out in MoCI Regulation No.15/2008 and MoCI Regulation No.09/2008 comprise numerous variables, such as cost of capital, cost of equity, cost of debt, annuity factor, traffic data and fee cost. These variables are accounted for based on, among other things, our annual financial reports and statements. Although this may seem to give us flexibility in tariff formulation, the Government is still authorized to supervise the implementation of tariff formulation through (i) the Indonesian Telecommunication Regulatory Authority ("ITRA"), for basic telephony and cellular services, and (ii) Directorate General on Post and Informatics ("DGPI"), for internet telephony services for the public. Based on its supervision, ITRA may take further action as it sees fit if any of our actions is deemed to potentially disrupt fair competition in the telecommunications market. Our promotional tariff must be carefully planned and calculated to avoid any possible "predatory pricing" claim, as the Government does not fix an amount for the lowest tariff that we may charge to our customers.
If we violate the tariff formulation as governed under these tariff regulations, we will be subject to fines (relating to MoCI Regulation No.15/2008) and examination by ITRA (relating to MoCI Regulation No.09/2008). Both regulations allow the public to participate in the supervision process by submitting complaints, e.g. regarding unfavorable fees charged by us. Meanwhile, the lack of clarity and MoCI Regulation 09/2008 with respect to non-compliance with the applicable internet telephony services tariff could lead to unpredictable action that may be taken by DGPI. We cannot assure you that there will be no actions taken by either ITRA or DGPI against us or complaints alleged by our customers against us. If these risks were to materialize, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. As the Government dissolved ITRA in 2020 in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 112 of 2020, ITRA's former duties and functions are now assumed by the MoCI.
Regulations for the configuration of BTS towers may delay the installation of new BTS towers or changes in the placement of existing towers, and may erode our leadership position by requiring us to share our towers with our competitors
In 2008, MoCI issued MoCI Regulation No. 02/PER/M.KOMINFO/3/2008 relating to the construction, utilization and sharing of BTS towers ("MoCI Regulation No.02/2008"). In 2009, MoCI (jointly with the Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Public Works and Head of Investment Coordinating Board) issued a joint regulation ("Joint Ministries Regulation") that supplemented MoCI Regulation No.02/2008. The purpose of this new regulation was essentially to harmonize central, local and sectoral administrative procedures and functions for granting BTS tower construction permits. MoCI Regulation No.02/2008 was revoked in 2018. As of the date hereof, the relevant regulations governing the construction of BTS towers are the Joint Ministries Regulation and the Omnibus Law.
Based on the Joint Ministries Regulation, the construction of BTS towers requires permits from the local government. This may adversely affect us in the allocation, development or expansion plan of our new BTS towers as setting up of our new towers will become more complicated. We may be prohibited from setting up new BTS towers in certain local areas thereby restricting our expansion as well. It may also adversely affect our existing BTS towers if local governments require any changes in the placement of the existing towers. For instance, in the Jakarta area, the Governor of Jakarta, by virtue of Governor Regulation No.106 of 2019 on Guideline on the Provision of Utility Network Infrastructures, requires established utility networks (such as telecommunications cable networks) to be relocated underground where Government-owned facilities that are in compliance with the Jakarta's planning masterplan can be used and leased by operators who have obtained the relevant governmental permit. Such relocation must be completed within 12 months from the date such governmental facilities are made available to operators, subject to exemptions that may be granted by the Government. As of the date hereof, the Government's underground facilities have been made available to operators in certain areas following the Government's gradual implementation of its relocation plan for utility networks in the Jakarta area. Operators who do not comply with this new requirement could be subject to sanctions (such as written warnings, forced cable cutting or pole/infrastructure retraction). A governmental initiative is only being implemented in Jakarta and Surabaya but it could be expanded to other cities by local governments, which could adversely impact our tower business. Most operators object to the high lease tariffs that are being introduced by the local governments in both Jakarta and Surabaya. As a result, the local governments are still discussing this issue with all stakeholders and evaluating the tariffs taking into account the potential impact they may have on end-consumers. Although we have been communicating with the local governments, the extent of financial exposure and the concrete implementation of this initiative remain unclear. However, we believe that the Government will likely proceed with the 12-month transition period in accordance with the regulation.
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In addition, this regulation requires us to allow other telecommunications operators to lease space on and utilize our telecommunications towers in a manner that provides equal opportunity to and without any discrimination among such other telecommunications operators. This allows our competitors to expand their networks by leasing space on and utilizing our telecommunications towers without having to expend capital expenditures to build their own telecommunications towers. As a result, our competitors may be able to expand their network quickly and grow their business quickly, particularly in urban areas where new space for additional towers may be difficult to obtain. As at the date hereof, no implementing regulations have been passed in connection with the Job Creation Law regarding the telecommunications sector. As a result, it is still premature to assess risks that may materialize as a result of such law. If our wholly-owned subsidiary PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi ("Mitratel") is subject to network sharing requirements in relation to the deployment of 5G technology, depending how such requirements (if any), are implemented, or if more than one operator obtains 5G licenses, this could reduce the potential for collocation, the availability of sites for building new BTS towers in certain areas. In addition, any requirement imposing the retrofitting of existing BTS towers to allow more than one operator to use them could create additional costs.
In order to operate our telecommunications towers, Indonesian regulations allow local governments to impose three types of fees (property tax (Pajak Bumi dan Bangunan/PBB), fees charged in connection with building permits (Ijin Mendirikan Bangunan) and the telecommunication tower control fees) fees which are determined on a cost basis subject to a formula provided by the MoF and the location of the telecommunications towers. While local governments that have begun to impose such fees have not charged material amounts as at the date hereof, we cannot assure you that such fees will not be material in the future. In addition, we cannot assure you that there will be no material difference in the amount of fees that we would be liable to pay to the relevant local governments. If these risks were to materialize, it could have an adverse effect on our operating results.
We may experience local community opposition to some of our tower sites
We have experienced, and may in the future experience, local community opposition to our existing sites or the construction of new tower sites for various reasons, including aesthetic and alleged health concerns. As a result of such opposition, we could be required by the local authorities to dismantle and relocate certain towers. Opposition to the construction of new towers could also cause delays in the availability and completion of new towers. In extreme cases, vandalism could result in damaged equipment.
If we are required to relocate a material number of our towers and cannot locate replacement sites that are acceptable to our customers, or production delays or damages to equipment occur, it could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to numerous non-tax state revenue payments and a Universal Service Obligation Contribution ("USO Contribution")
We are subject to multiple rules and regulations authorizing the Government to collect non-tax state revenue from us. Pursuant to Government Regulation No.80 of 2015 on Applicable Types and Tariff on Non-Tax State Revenue for MoCI ("GR No.80/2015"), the Government's non-tax revenue may be derived from, among other things, tests for telecommunications devices, telecommunications operations and use of radio frequency spectrum. MoCI Regulation No.17 of 2016 on Tariff Implementation Guidelines on Non-Tax State Revenue Collected from Telecommunication Operation Rights Fee (Biaya Hak Penyelenggaraan, or "BHP") and USO Contribution, as amended by MoCI Regulation No.19 of 2016 ("MoCI Regulation No.19/2016") specifies that every licensed telecommunications operator must pay the Telecommunication BHP and USO Contribution. Government Regulation No.53 of 2000 on Use of Radio Frequency Spectrum and Satellite Orbit ("GR No.53/2000") and MoCI Regulation No.21 of 2014 also specifies the obligation for telecommunications operators that use a slot in the orbit for their satellite to pay a satellite orbit operation right fee.
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Under Law No.36 of 1999 on Telecommunications (the "Telecommunications Law"), telecommunications operators must participate in USO Contribution. Further, according to MoCI Regulation No.10 of 2018 on Implementation of Telecommunication and Informatics USO ("MoCI Regulation No.10/2018") and GR No.46/2021, the USO Contribution will be one of the sources of funding for provision of information and communication technology infrastructure. This infrastructure provision is targeted to (i) remote areas needing access to information and telecommunications technology, (ii) groups of citizens with disabilities or economic limitations and/or (iii) other areas that still require access to information and telecommunications technology.
According to the Telecommunications Law, failure to make the non-tax state revenue payment and participate in USO Contribution will be subject to administrative sanctions; the most adverse one of which is revocation of license (which should be preceded by written warnings). While we have not previously failed to make the requisite payments, any failure by us to pay these obligations may cause our licenses to be revoked. Any revocation of licenses could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.
The interpretation and application of the anticipated enactment of a new consumer data protection regulation are uncertain and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects
Law No.11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions Law as amended by Law No.19 of 2016 ("EIT Law") first came into effect on April 21, 2008. The EIT Law sets forth general principles to be further implemented through a series of Government regulations, presidential decrees and ministerial decrees, some of which have not yet been promulgated. In general, the provisions of the law are broad, and few sources of interpretive guidance are available. A number of implementing regulations to the EIT Law have been enacted, among others, Government Regulation No. 71 of 2019 on Implementation of Electronic System and Transaction, as implemented by MoCI No. 5 of 2020 on Private Electronic System Operators ("MoCI Regulation No.5/2020") ("GR No.71/2019") and MoCI Regulation No.20 of 2016 on Protection of Personal Data in an Electronic System ("MoCI Regulation No.20/2016"). These regulations are new and subject to interpretation by the regulatory authorities. Pending clear instances of the application of such regulations, it is uncertain how these regulations will affect us. Further, following the enactment of the Omnibus Law, GR No.46/2021 was passed which made recent changes to certain regulatory provisions that apply to the telecommunications sector.
GR No.71/2019 has implemented a number of significant changes, including (i) a new definition of public and private electronic system operators, (ii) new data localization requirements for public electronic system operators, (iii) further elaboration on the deletion of electronic data, (iv) the provision of electronic certificates and electronic reliability certificates, and (v) a new scope of electronic certification services. GR No.71/2019 also defines "public electronic system operators" as governmental institutions that organize, manage or operate an electronic system or any person, state apparatus or business entities appointed by any such governmental institution to organize, manage or operate an electronic system. The other electronic system operators that do fall within the foregoing category will be considered "private electronic system operators." Under MoCI Regulation No.5/2020, private electronic system operators must register their electronic systems with MoCI. The registration obligation also applies to private electronic system operators that are established under foreign laws (or are domiciled outside of Indonesia) and fulfil certain criteria. Private electronic system operators must ensure that their electronic systems do not (i) contain prohibited electronic information or documents and (ii) facilitate the dissemination of such electronic information or documents. Private electronic system operators must also take down prohibited contents within 24 hours or within four hours if they have received a take-down notice from MoCI.
Under GR No.71/2019, there is a one-year transitional period for electronic system operators to comply with their obligation to register with MoCI and a two-year transitional period for public electronic system operators to comply with the data localization requirements, which is the obligation to manage, process and store the electronic systems and data within Indonesia. As a positive development from the previous rule, GR No.71/2019 has clarified the data localization requirements (which now comprise "managing," "processing," and "storing" electronic systems and data) and removed the uncertainty about the "public services" definition under the prior applicable rule. The previous rule only stipulated that electronic system operators for "public services" were obliged to, among others, maintain data centers within Indonesia. GR No. 71/2019 removed all references to "public services" and instead uses the concept of "public electronic system operators", which clarifies which parties are required to comply with the additional requirements under GR No. 71/2019.
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Not all of the implementing regulations of the EIT Law, however, have been issued and some have only been recently enacted. Accordingly, the full impact of the EIT Law, the related implementing regulations and any change in Indonesian consumer data protection regulations on our financial and operational status cannot be determined at this time. There is no assurance that we would be able to comply with the EIT Law, or that the compliance would not require us to make substantial capital expenditure or delays in our business schedules.
Our electronic money business activity is highly regulated
We are subject to multiple rules and regulations in respect of our electronic money (e-money) business activities. The practice of e-money in Indonesia is mainly governed by Bank Indonesia ("BI") Regulation No.20/6/PBI/2018 on Electronic Money ("BI Regulation No.20/2018"). Any party which wishes to carry out e-money activities in Indonesia must first obtain an e-money license granted by BI. Although we, through our subsidiary Telkomsel, have obtained an e-money license from BI, we are still subject to evaluation conducted by BI. Under BI Regulation No.20/2018, BI is authorized to take further action based on the evaluation as it sees fit, among others, to revoke a license, to accelerate the license period or to limit the license holder's activity. Subject to evaluation, if BI takes the view that there are reasons to impose any of those further actions on Telkomsel, our ability to conduct business in the usual course would be limited, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
BI Circular Letter No.16/11/DKSP dated July 22, 2014 on Electronic Money Operations which was most recently amended by BI Circular Letter No.18/21/DKSP dated September 27, 2016, further implements the obligation for e-money license holders to report any change in the type or name, developments or addition of facilities to the e-money product. See "Item 4. Information on the Company — Licensing — Payment Method Using e-Money." The amendment of this circular specifies that an e-money product with a different type and/or name, developments and/or additional facilities can only be issued after obtaining approval from BI. Further, BI Regulation No.20/2018 is also implemented by BI's Board of Governor Members Regulation No.20/21/PADG/2018 dated August 20, 2018 on the Report on the Implementation of Payment Using Card and Electronic Money Activities by Smallholder Credit Banks and Non-Bank Institutions ("BI BOG Regulation No.20/2018"). BI BOG Regulation No.20/2018 regulates the reporting obligation that must be satisfied by any party practicing e-money activity.
We must comply with these regulations as we are carrying out a business which is highly regulated. If we, through Telkomsel, fail to comply with any of these obligations, we will be subject to administrative sanctions. Any sanction imposed on Telkomsel could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Risks Related to Development of New Businesses and Acquisitions
We may not succeed in our efforts to develop new businesses
We believe that efforts to develop new businesses other than the telecommunications business such as digital life and smart platform and enterprise digital businesses, as well as international expansion are necessary to ensure continuing business growth. Risks related to new business development include competition from established players, suitability of business model, competition from disruptive new technologies or business models, the need to acquire new expertise in the new areas of operation, and risks related to online media which include intellectual property, consumer protection and confidentiality of customer data. Further, we have to focus on securing new enterprise customers. If we are unable to secure new contracts, or we are unable to renew our existing contracts with similar contract value, size or margins to existing ones, this may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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Focusing on international expansion is one of our strategic business initiatives. In particular, we have expanded into a number of jurisdictions in telecommunications or data related areas, namely Singapore, Hong Kong, Timor Leste, Australia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Taiwan, the United States and New Zealand. Expanding our operations internationally exposes us to a number of risks associated with operating in new jurisdictions. For example, our international operations could be adversely affected by political or social instability and unrest, regulatory changes (such as an increase in taxes applicable to our operations), macroeconomic instability, limitations on or controls on the foreign exchange trade, competition from local operators, difference in consumer preference and a lack of expertise in the local markets in which we will operate. Any of these factors could limit our expected returns from our expansion and materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our acquisition activities expose us to various risks
We have in the past pursued, and may continue to pursue, acquisitions of complementary assets and businesses. For instance, in 2019, Mitratel purchased 2,100 telecommunications towers from PT Indosat Tbk ("Indosat"), a telecommunications operator company in Indonesia. In 2020, Mitratel entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of 6,050 telecommunications towers from our majority-owned subsidiary PT Telekomunikasi Selular ("Telkomsel"), 1,911 of which were transferred to Mitratel in October 2020 with the remaining balance similarly transferred in February 2021. The success of these acquisitions will depend, in part, on our ability to realize the anticipated growth opportunities and synergies from combining the acquired businesses with our existing businesses. Based on the size and complexity of certain businesses, integrating them into our existing business could require substantial time, expense and effort from our management. The process of integrating an acquired business may also involve unforeseen costs and delays or other operational, technical and financial difficulties that may require a disproportionate amount of management attention as well as financial and other resources. If our management's attention is diverted or there are any difficulties associated with integrating these businesses, our results of operations could be adversely affected.
Even if we are able to successfully integrate these businesses, it may not be possible to realize the full benefits we expect to result from such acquisitions and strategic transactions or realize these benefits within the time frame that we expect. Moreover, such businesses generally remain subject to unforeseeable factors outside of our control. Our acquisitions and strategic transactions, including those entered into in recent periods, may turn out to be unprofitable. Any failure to successfully incorporate the acquired businesses and assets into our existing operations, to enhance operating efficiencies from consolidation savings, minimize any unforeseen operational difficulties and realize the anticipated benefits on time, or at all, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects and cash flows.
Risks Related to our Corporate Structure
We are dependent on our subsidiary, Telkomsel, a cellular telecommunications services and cellular telecommunications networks company
We derived 65.3%, 65.1% and 61.5% of our revenue in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively, from our mobile business through our 65.0% majority-owned subsidiary, Telkomsel. The remaining 35.0% interest in Telkomsel is held by Singapore Telecom Mobile Pte. Ltd. ("Singtel"). A telecommunication company based in Singapore, Singtel may seek to influence the management, operation and performance of Telkomsel. In the event that there are differences between us and Singtel regarding the business, strategy and operations of Telkomsel, these issues may take time to resolve, or may not result in a positive outcome for our Group. These factors could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
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Our controlling shareholder's interest may differ from those of our other shareholders
The Government has a controlling equity interest of 52.09% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock and the ability to determine the outcome of all actions requiring the approval of our shareholders. The Government also holds our one Dwiwarna Share, which has special voting rights and veto rights over certain matters, including the election and removal of our Directors and Commissioners. The Government may also use its powers as a majority shareholder or under the Dwiwarna Share to cause us to issue new shares, amend our Articles of Association or bring about actions to merge or dissolve us, increase or decrease our authorized capital or reduce our issued capital, or veto any of these actions. One or more of these may result in the delisting of our securities from certain exchanges. In addition, the Government regulates the Indonesian telecommunications industry through the MoCI.
As of December 31, 2020, the Government had a 14.29% equity interest in Indosat, which competes with us in cellular services, data center services, IT solutions, system integration services and fixed IDD telecommunications services. The Government's equity interest in Indosat also includes a Dwiwarna Share which has special voting rights and veto rights over certain strategic matters under Indosat's articles of association, including decisions on dissolution, liquidation and bankruptcy, and also permits the Government to nominate one director to its board of directors and one commissioner to its board of commissioners. As a result, there may be instances where the Government's interests will conflict with ours. There is no assurance that the Government will not direct opportunities to Indosat or favor Indosat or any other telecommunications operator when exercising regulatory powers over the Indonesian telecommunications industry. If the Government were to give priority to the business of Indosat or any other telecommunications operator over ours, or to expand its equity interest in Indosat or acquire an equity interest in any other telecommunications operator, our business, financial condition, and results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
These provisions could have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change in control, and could limit the opportunity for our shareholders to receive a premium for their ADSs and/or shares, and could also materially decrease the price that some investors are willing to pay for our ADSs and/or shares.
Risks Related to Indonesia
Political and Social Risks
Current political and social events in Indonesia may adversely affect our business
Since 1998, Indonesia has experienced a process of democratic change, resulting in political and social events that have highlighted the unpredictable nature of Indonesia's changing political landscape. In 1999, Indonesia conducted its first free elections for representatives in parliament. In 2004, 2009, 2014 and most recently, in 2019, elections were held in Indonesia to elect the President, Vice-President and representatives in parliament. Indonesia also has many political parties, without any one party holding a clear majority. Due to these factors, Indonesia has, from time to time, experienced political instability, as well as general social and civil unrest. For example, since 2000, thousands of Indonesians have participated in demonstrations in Jakarta and other Indonesian cities both for and against former presidents Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Soekarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and current President Joko Widodo as well as in response to specific issues, including fuel subsidy reductions, privatization of state assets, anti-corruption measures, decentralization and provincial autonomy, and the American-led military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. Although these demonstrations were generally peaceful, some turned violent. Indonesia announced in November 2014, and implemented with effect from January 1, 2015, a fixed diesel subsidy of Rp1,000 per liter and scrapped the gasoline subsidy. Although the implementation did not result in any significant violence or political instability, the announcement and implementation also coincided with a period where crude oil prices had dropped very significantly from 2014. Currently, the Government reviews and adjusts the price for fuel on monthly basis and implements the adjusted fuel price in the following month. There can be no assurance that future increases in crude oil and fuel prices will not result in political and social instability.
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President Joko Widodo won the Indonesian presidential elections which took place in 2014, and was sworn in as President on October 20, 2014. Although the 2014 elections were conducted in a peaceful manner, President Joko Widodo's governing coalition did not hold a majority of seats in parliament. Between November 2016 and February 2017, significant demonstrations took place in central Jakarta against the governor of Jakarta. These demonstrations occurred during the closely fought Jakarta gubernatorial elections which took place in February 2017 and continued through the subsequent run-off election in April 2017. Each of the foregoing events, as well as political campaigns in Indonesia generally, may be indicative of the degree of political and social division in Indonesia. The latest presidential election took place on April 17, 2019, and incumbent President Joko Widodo won the presidential polls with 55.5% of the total votes. The result triggered allegations of electoral fraud. Thousands of supporters of the opposing party Prabowo Subianto held a rally in front of the Elections Supervisory Agency's ("BAWASLU") headquarters on Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta on May 21, 2019, calling for the disqualification of Joko Widodo from the presidential election. The rally ended with a riot on May 22, 2019, in Central Jakarta. The opposing party also filed a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court to challenge the election result, alleging fraud. The Constitutional Court on July 27, 2019, rejected the lawsuit challenging the presidential election result. There can be no assurance that this situation or future sources of discontent will not lead to further political and social instability.
Separatist movements and clashes between religious and ethnic groups have also resulted in social and civil unrest in parts of Indonesia, such as Aceh in the past and in Papua. There have been clashes between supporters of those separatist movements and the Indonesian military, including continued activity in Papua by separatist rebels that has led to violent incidents. There have also been inter-ethnic conflicts, for example in Kalimantan, as well as inter-religious conflict such as in Maluku and Poso.
In August 2019, after the arrest of Papuan students for allegedly vandalizing the Indonesian flag, riots broke out in Papua. The riots caused a Telkom customer service building to be damaged in 2019, but this did not result in significant issues, service interruption or damages.
In October and November 2020, there were numerous protests held across Indonesia against the newly issued Job Creation Law. This law amends more than 70 existing laws and seeks to cut red tape and boost investments for creating new jobs. Protesters claimed that the Job Creation Law will generally undermine existing labor laws and weaken environmental protections.
Labor issues have also come to the fore in Indonesia. In 2003, the Government enacted the current labor law that gave employees greater protections. Occasional efforts to reduce these protections have prompted an upsurge in public protests as workers responded to policies that they deemed unfavorable. More recently, the Job Creation Law amended certain provisions of the Labor Law.
There can be no assurance that social and civil disturbances will not occur in the future and on a wider scale, or that any such disturbances will not, directly or indirectly, materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Terrorist activities in Indonesia could destabilize Indonesia, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, and the market price of our securities
There have been a number of terrorist incidents in Indonesia in the past two decades, including the May 2005 bombing in Central Sulawesi, the Bali bombings in October 2002 and October 2005 and the bombings at the JW Marriot and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta in July 2009, which resulted in deaths and injuries. On January 14, 2016, several coordinated bombings and gun shootings occurred in Jalan Thamrin, a main thoroughfare in Jakarta, resulting in a number of deaths and injuries. On May 24, 2017, a bombing at a bus station in Jakarta resulted in multiple deaths and injuries. In May 2018, three churches were bombed in Surabaya, killing at least 28 people and injuring at least 50 others. On October 10, 2019, Wiranto, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs at that time was stabbed several times by a member of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, an extremist group, during his visit in Java. More recently, a bombing occurred on March 28, 2021 in the Makassar Cathedral injuring more than 20 people.
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Although the Government has successfully countered some terrorist activities in recent years and arrested several of those suspected of being involved in these incidents, terrorist incidents may continue and, if serious or widespread, might have a material adverse effect on investment and confidence in, and the performance of, the Indonesian economy and may also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and the market price of our securities.
Macro-Economic Risks
Negative changes in global, regional or Indonesian economic activity could adversely affect our business
Changes in the Indonesian, regional and global economies can affect our performance. Two significant events in the past that impacted Indonesia's economy were the Asian economic crisis of 1997 and the global economic crisis which started in 2008. The 1997 crisis was characterized in Indonesia by, among others, currency depreciation, a significant decline in real gross domestic product, high interest rates, social unrest and extraordinary political developments. Indonesia entered a recessionary phase with relatively low levels of growth between 1999 and 2002. The rate of growth has stabilized at relatively higher levels in subsequent years, though there has been a moderate slowdown in growth from 2012 to 2016 with slight development over the following years, except in 2020, principally due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures implemented in response to the pandemic. In addition, the Government continues to have a modest fiscal deficit and a high level of sovereign debt, its foreign currency reserves are modest, the Indonesian Rupiah continues to be volatile and has poor liquidity, and the banking sector is weak and suffers from high levels of non-performing loans. Accordingly, there is no assurance that the current Indonesian economic situation would not deteriorate, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
While the global economic crisis that arose from the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States did not affect Indonesia's economy as severely as in 1997, it still put Indonesia's economy under pressure. The global financial markets have also experienced volatility as a result of expectations relating to monetary and interest rate policies of the United States, concerns over the debt crisis in the Eurozone, Brexit, the United States and China trade disputes, concerns over China's economic health and economic protectionism, and most recently, the ongoing outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Uncertainty over the outcome of the Eurozone governments' financial support programs and worries about sovereign finances generally are ongoing. The economic and social impact of the COVID-19 spread, which as at the date hereof continues to disrupt the Indonesian economy, further escalation of trade and geopolitical tensions, uncertainties around the conditions of the future trade relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU after the UK ceased to be a member of the EU on January 30, 2020, and persistently weak economic data pointing to a protracted slowdown in global growth are among the possible triggers that could result in a major deterioration in financial market sentiment.
Trade tensions between the U.S. and major trading partners, most notably China, continue to escalate following the introduction of a series of tariff measures in both countries. Although China is the primary target of U.S. trade measures, value chain linkages mean that other emerging markets, primarily in Asia, may also be impacted. China's policy response to these trade measures also presents a degree of uncertainty. There is some evidence of China's monetary policy easing and the potential for greater fiscal spending, which could result in imbalances in the Chinese economy. This could undermine efforts to address already high debt levels and increase medium-term risks.
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In Europe, the UK Government and the EU Commission announced an agreement on a EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement ("TCA"). While this agreement covers a number of topics, including trade in goods and in services, digital trade, intellectual property, public procurement, aviation and road transport, energy, fisheries, social security coordination, law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, thematic cooperation and participation in certain EU programs, there are still many unanswered questions. For instance, the TCA does not cover the specifics of the UK-EU agreement regarding financial services. In addition, the TCA is being applied on temporary basis pending the ratification of its final terms in the EU. Such uncertainties, uncertainty as to the magnitude of the expected negative impact of Brexit on the economic outlook of the UK and the Eurozone, and other expected or unexpected effects of Brexit, such as (i) the possible exit of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland from the UK, (ii) the possibility that other European Union member States could hold similar referendums to the one held in the UK and/or call into question their membership of the European Union, (iii) the possibility that one or more countries that adopted the Euro as their national currency might decide, in the long term, to adopt an alternative currency, or (iv) prolonged periods of uncertainty connected to these eventualities may have a negative economic impact and increase volatility in international markets. These could include greater volatility of foreign exchange and financial markets in general due to the increased uncertainty. Market and economic disruptions have affected, and may continue to affect, consumer confidence levels and spending, personal bankruptcy rates, levels of incurrence and default on consumer debt, among other factors. There can be no assurance that the market disruptions in Europe, including the increased cost of funding for certain governments and financial institutions, will not spread, nor can there be any assurance that future financial support packages will be made available or, even if provided, will be sufficient to stabilise the affected countries and markets in Europe or elsewhere.
The current COVID-19 pandemic and preventative or protective actions that governmental authorities around the world have taken to counter the effects of the pandemic, including social distancing, office and school closures, travel restrictions and the imposition of quarantines, have resulted in periods of business disruption, including prolonged disruptions to manufacturing and global supply chains as well as restrictions on business activities and the movement of people comprising a significant portion of the world’s population, and a global decrease in economic activity, including in Indonesia. Such measures, and rapid increases of severe cases and deaths where such measures fail or are lifted prematurely, may cause unprecedented economic disruption in Indonesia and elsewhere. As at the date hereof, there is substantial medical uncertainty regarding COVID-19 and no government-certified treatment or vaccine available. As a result, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to uncertainty in the global economy and significant volatility in global financial markets, which may have a negative impact on global economic conditions and lead to a prolonged global economic crisis or recession. The local and global economic disruption from the COVID-19 outbreak has negatively affected individuals and Indonesian companies of all sizes, from SMEs to large corporates (a number of which are our consumers and customers) which have experienced reductions in income, sales and revenue. In 2020, Indonesia's GDP suffered a contraction by 2.07% (computed at constant market prices, based on preliminary results available as at February 2021), according to the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics. The consequential decrease in disposable income or available cash, together with a broad negative business sentiment could lead to weaker demand for certain of our products and services in the future. For the financial year ended December 31, 2020, there was no significant negative impact on our sales revenue.
If the current global uncertainties become protracted, we can provide no assurance that they will not have a material and adverse effect on Indonesia's economic growth and consequently on our business.
Adverse economic conditions could result in less business activity, less disposable income available for consumers to spend and reduced consumer purchasing power, which may reduce demand for communication services, including our services, which in turn would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. There is no assurance that there will not be a recurrence of economic instability in future, or that, should it occur, it will not have an impact on the performance of our business.
Fluctuations in the value of the Indonesian Rupiah may materially and adversely affect us
Our functional currency is the Indonesian Rupiah. One of the most important impacts the Asian economic crisis had on Indonesia was the depreciation and volatility in the value of the Indonesian Rupiah as measured against other currencies, such as the U.S. Dollar. The Indonesian Rupiah continues to experience significant volatility.
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In particular, in 2020 the Rupiah has weakened against the U.S. Dollar from Rp13,612 = US$1.00 on January 27, 2020 to Rp16,741 = US$1.00 on April 2, 2020 before appreciating again up to Rp14,105 = US$1.00 on December 31, 2020. (based on the middle exchange rate announced by Bank Indonesia), due, among other factors, to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the Indonesian economy.
In addition, while the Indonesian Rupiah has generally been freely convertible and transferable, from time to time, Bank Indonesia has intervened in the currency exchange markets in furtherance of its policies, either by selling Indonesian Rupiah or by using its foreign currency reserves to purchase Indonesian Rupiah. We can give no assurance that the current floating exchange rate policy of Bank Indonesia will not be modified or that the Government will take additional action to stabilize, maintain or increase the Indonesian Rupiah's value, or that any of these actions, if taken, will be successful. Modification of the current floating exchange rate policy could result in significantly higher domestic interest rates, liquidity shortages, capital or exchange controls, or the withholding of additional financial assistance by multinational lenders. This could result in a reduction of economic activity, an economic recession, loan defaults or declining subscriber usage of our services, and as a result, we may also face difficulties in funding our capital expenditures and in implementing our business strategy. Any of the foregoing consequences could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Downgrades of credit ratings of the Government or Indonesian companies could adversely affect our business
As of the date of this annual report on Form 20-F, Indonesia's sovereign foreign currency long-term debt was rated "Baa2" with stable outlook by Moody's, "BBB" with negative outlook by Standard & Poor's and "BBB" with stable outlook by Fitch. Indonesia's short-term foreign currency debt is rated "A-2" by Standard & Poor's and "F2" by Fitch.
These ratings reflect an assessment of the Government’s overall financial capacity to pay its obligations and its ability or willingness to meet its financial commitments as they become due. We can give no assurance that Moody's, Standard & Poor's, Fitch or any other statistical rating organization will not change or downgrade the credit ratings of Indonesia or Indonesian companies. In particular, the credit ratings of Indonesia or Indonesian companies, have been and may be further downgraded due to the effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic. On April 17, 2020, Standard & Poor’s affirmed Indonesia’s foreign currency long-term debt rating of “BBB” but revised the outlook from stable to negative. Considering the rapidly changing implications of the spread of COVID-19, it is difficult to assess the full nature and extent of the impact that the outbreak will have on such credit ratings. Any such downgrade could have an adverse impact on liquidity in the Indonesian financial markets, the ability of the Government and Indonesian companies, including us, to raise additional financing, and the interest rates and other commercial terms at which such additional financing is available. Interest rates on our floating rate Rupiah-denominated debt would also likely increase. Such events could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects and/or the market price of our securities.
Risks relating to Natural Disasters
Indonesia is vulnerable to natural disasters and events beyond our control, which could adversely affect our business and operating results
Many parts of Indonesia, including areas where we operate, are prone to natural disasters such as floods, lightning strikes, typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, fires, droughts, power outages and other events beyond our control. The Indonesian archipelago is one of the most volcanically active regions in the world as it is located in the convergence zone of three major lithospheric plates. It is subject to significant seismic activity that can lead to destructive earthquakes, tsunamis or tidal waves. Flash floods and more widespread flooding also occur regularly during the rainy season from November to April. Cities, especially Jakarta, are frequently subject to severe localized flooding which can result in major disruption and, occasionally, fatalities. Landslides regularly occur in rural areas during the wet season. From time to time, natural disasters have killed, affected or displaced large numbers of people and damaged our equipment. These events in the past have disrupted, and may in the future, disrupt our business activities, cause damage to equipment, and adversely affect our financial performance and profit.
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For example, on September 2, 2009, an earthquake in West Java caused damage to our assets. On September 30, 2009, an earthquake in West Sumatra disrupted the provision of telecommunications services in several locations and caused severe damage to our assets. In June 2016, underwater volcanic activity caused disturbances to submarine fiber optic cable, causing disruption in services and loss of revenue. On August 5, 2018 a large earthquake hit Lombok and on September 28, 2018, a large earthquake triggered a tsunami which impacted Central Sulawesi, both of which caused operational disruptions and damage to our assets. In January 2020, landslides and floods triggered by torrential downpours in and around Jakarta, Bekasi and Bogor resulted in approximately 50 deaths and 400,000 displaced. Floodwater reached up to six meters in certain areas, making it the worst rainfall in over a decade. The extreme weather also submerged at least 169 neighborhoods. The landslides and floods caused damage to our civil mechanical and electrical equipment, production equipment, and buildings. This resulted in the congestion of data traffic when transferring data to our backup network and therefore, several hours of service disruption at various automatic telephone center (Sentral Telepon Otomat or "STO"). The estimated loss from the damages caused by the landslides and floods is Rp36.2 billion, out of which we had to bear approximately Rp2.0 billion after taking into account reimbursements obtained from insurance companies.
Given the geography of Indonesia, we are highly reliant on the use of submarine cables to provide services across the Indonesian archipelago. These submarine cables may be damaged by volcanic activity or friction with the ocean floor caused by earthquake tremors or otherwise, which may disrupt our ability to provide services to customers.
Although we have implemented a business continuity plan and a disaster recovery plan, which we test regularly, and we have insured certain of our assets to protect from any losses attributable to natural disasters or other phenomena beyond our control, there is no assurance that the insurance coverage will be sufficient to cover the potential losses, that the premium payable for these insurance policies upon renewal will not increase substantially in the future, or that natural disasters would not significantly disrupt our operations.
We cannot assure you that future natural disasters will not have a significant impact on us, or Indonesia or its economy. A significant earthquake, other geological disturbance or weather-related natural disaster in any of Indonesia's more populated cities and financial centers could severely disrupt the Indonesian economy and undermine investor confidence, thereby materially and adversely affecting our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may be affected by uncertainty in the delineation of the respective prerogatives and responsibilities of, and the balance of power between local governments and the central government in Indonesia
Since 1999 regarding, various laws and regulations regarding fiscal decentralization, devolution of power to local governments and regional autonomy, among others, were implemented, amended, revoked or replaced. As at the date hereof, there is uncertainty in respect of the respective prerogatives and responsibilities, and the balance of power between the local and the central governments regarding several subject matters. Those include procedures for renewing licenses and approvals, and monitoring compliance with environmental regulations. In addition, local authorities have sought to levy additional taxes or obtain new contributions, from time to time. There can be no assurance that such uncertainty will dissipate or that our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects will not be adversely affected by dual compliance obligations and further uncertainty as to legality to levy new taxes by certain authorities or the ability of such authorities to promulgate other regulations affecting our business.
Risks Related to our ADSs
The trading price of our ADSs may be volatile, which could result in substantial losses to you
The trading price of our ADSs may fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. As a result of this volatility, investors may not be able to sell their ADSs at or above the price paid for the ADSs or ordinary shares, respectively. In addition to the factors discussed in this “Risk factors” section and elsewhere in this annual report on Form 20-F, these factors include:
● variations in our revenue, earnings, cash flow and operating data;
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● regulatory or legal developments in Indonesia, jurisdictions where we carry out our operations or in the United States;
● announcements of new investments, acquisitions or strategic partnerships by us or our competitors;
● general economic, political, and market conditions and overall fluctuations in the financial markets in Indonesia, the United States, and other countries where we carry out our operations, including the global and regional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic;
● sales volumes of our ADSs or ordinary shares, or sales of our ADSs or shares by our senior management, directors or our large shareholders, or the anticipation that such sales may occur in the future;
● stock market price and volume fluctuations of comparable companies and, in particular, companies that operate in the telecommunications industry or with most of their operations in Indonesia;
● investors’ general perception of us and our business;
● announcements of new products, services and expansions by us or our competitors;
● changes in financial estimates or recommendations by securities analysts;
● detrimental adverse publicity about us, our services or our industry;
● additions or departures of key personnel; and
● potential litigation or regulatory investigations.
Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume and price at which our ADSs or ordinary shares will trade.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research reports about us or our business, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our ADSs, the market price for our ADSs and trading volume could decline
The trading market for our ADSs will be influenced by research reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more analysts who cover us downgrade our ADSs or ordinary shares, the market price for our ADSs would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the market price or trading volume for our ADSs to decline.
The different characteristics of the capital markets in Indonesia and the U.S. may negatively affect the trading prices of our ADSs and shares
As a dual-listed company, we are subject to Indonesian and NYSE listing and regulatory requirements concurrently. The IDX and the NYSE have different trading hours, trading characteristics (including trading volume and liquidity), trading and listing rules, and investor bases (including different levels of retail and institutional participation). As a result of these differences, the trading prices of our ADSs and our shares may not be the same, even allowing for currency differences. Fluctuations in the price of our ADSs due to circumstances peculiar to the U.S. capital markets could materially and adversely affect the price of the shares, or vice versa. Certain events having significant negative impact specifically on the U.S. capital markets may result in a decline in the trading price of our shares notwithstanding that such event may not impact the trading prices of securities listed on the IDX generally or to the same extent, or vice versa.
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Our financial results are reported to the OJK in conformity with IFAS, which differs in certain respects from IFRS, and we distribute dividends based on profit for the year attributable to owners of the parent company and net income per share determined in reliance on IFAS
In accordance with the regulations of the OJK and the Indonesia Stock Exchange ("IDX"), we are required to report our financial results to the OJK in conformity with IFAS. We have provided the OJK with our financial results for the year ended December 31, 2020 on April 29, 2021. We furnished such financial results to the SEC on Form 6-K dated April 30, 2021, which contains our Consolidated Financial Statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020, and prepared in conformity with IFAS. IFAS differs in certain significant respects from IFRS and, as a result, there are differences between our financial results as reported under IFAS and IFRS, including profit for the year attributable to owners of the parent company and net income per share. We distribute dividends based on profit for the year attributable to owners of the parent company and net income per share determined in reliance on IFAS.
Based on IFAS financial statements, our profit for the year attributable to owners of the parent company would be Rp18,663 billion in 2019 and Rp20,804 billion in 2020 and our net income per share would be Rp188.40 in 2019 and Rp210.01 in 2020. For 2019, dividends declared per share were Rp154.07 and dividends declared per ADS were Rp15,407. The dividend for 2020 will be decided at the 2021 AGMS, scheduled on May 28, 2021.
As a foreign private issuer in the U.S., we are permitted to, and we have relied and will rely on exemptions from certain NYSE corporate governance standards applicable to domestic U.S. issuers. This may afford less protection to holders of our ADSs
We are exempted from certain corporate governance requirements of the NYSE by virtue of being a foreign private issuer in the U.S. We are required to provide a brief description of the significant differences between our corporate governance practices and the corporate governance practices required to be followed by domestic U.S. companies listed on the NYSE. See "Item 16D. Exemptions from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees" and “Item 16G. Corporate Governance.” The standards applicable to us are considerably different than the standards applied to domestic U.S. issuers. For instance, we are not required to: have a majority of the board of be independent (although all of the members of the audit committee must be independent under the Exchange Act), have a compensation committee or a nominating or corporate governance committee consisting entirely of independent directors, have regularly scheduled executive sessions for non-management directors, or have executive sessions of solely independent directors each year.
We have relied on and intend to continue to rely on some of these exemptions. As a result, holders of our ADSs may not be provided with the benefits of certain corporate governance requirements of the NYSE.
As a foreign private issuer in the U.S., we are exempt from certain disclosure requirements under the Exchange Act, which may afford less protection to holders of our ADSs than they would enjoy if we were a domestic U.S. company
As a foreign private issuer in the U.S., we are exempt from, among other things, the rules prescribing the furnishing and content of proxy statements under the Exchange Act and the rules relating to selective disclosure of material non-public information under Regulation FD under the Exchange Act. In addition, our executive officers, directors and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and short-swing profit and recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act. We are also not required under the Exchange Act to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as domestic U.S. companies with securities registered under the Exchange Act. For example, in addition to annual reports with audited financial statements, domestic U.S. companies are required to file with the SEC quarterly reports that include interim financial statements reviewed by an independent registered public accounting firm and certified by the companies’ principal executive and financial officers. By contrast, as a foreign private issuer, we are not required to file such quarterly reports with the SEC or to provide quarterly certifications by our principal executive and financial officers. As a result, holders of our ADSs may be afforded less protection than they would under the Exchange Act rules applicable to domestic U.S. companies.
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The voting rights of holders of our ADSs are limited by the terms of the Deposit Agreement
Holders of our ADSs may exercise their voting rights with respect to the ordinary shares underlying their ADSs only in accordance with the provisions of the Deposit Agreement. Upon receipt of voting instructions from them in the manner set forth in the Deposit Agreement, the depositary for our ADSs will endeavor to vote their underlying ordinary shares in accordance with these instructions. Under our Articles of Association, minimum notice periods apply for convening a general meeting or an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders. When such meetings are convened, holders of our ADSs may not receive sufficient notice of a shareholders’ meeting to permit them to allow them to exercise their voting rights with respect to any specific matter at the meeting. In addition, the Depositary may not be able to send voting instructions to holders of our ADSs or carry out their voting instructions in a timely manner. Furthermore, the Depositary will not be responsible for any failure to carry out any instructions to vote, for the manner in which any vote is cast or for the effect of any vote. If no voting instructions are received by the Depositary from an holder of our ADSs on or before the date specified by the Depositary, subject to certain exceptions, the Depositary shall deem that such holder has instructed the Depositary to give a discretionary proxy to a person designated by us with respect to the shares underlying such holder's ADSs. As a result, holders of our ADSs may not be able to exercise their rights to vote and they may lack recourse if the ordinary shares underlying their ADSs are not voted as they requested.
Holders of our ADSs may be subject to limitations on transfer of their ADSs
ADSs are transferable on the books of the Depositary. However, the Depositary may close its transfer books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. In addition, the Depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of ADSs generally when our books or the transfer books of the Depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the Depositary deems it advisable to do so because of any requirement of law or of any government or governmental body, or under any provision of the Deposit Agreement, or for any other reason.
Holders of our ADSs may not receive distributions on our ordinary shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical to make them available to them
The Depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay holders of our ADSs the cash dividends or other distributions it receives on our ordinary shares or other deposited securities after deducting its fees and expenses, and subject to certain tax withholdings, as applicable. Holders of our ADSs will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of our ordinary shares that their ADSs represent. However, the Depositary is not responsible for making these payments or distributions if it is unlawful or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, it would be unlawful to make a distribution to a holder of ADSs if it consists of securities that require registration under the U.S. Securities Act but that are not properly registered or distributed pursuant to an applicable exemption from registration. We have no obligation to take any action to permit the distribution of our ADSs, ordinary shares, rights or anything else to holders of our ADSs. This means that holders of our ADSs may not receive the distributions we make on our ordinary shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical for us to make them available. These restrictions may materially reduce the value of the ADSs.
Holders of our ADSs may experience dilution of their holdings due to their inability to participate in rights offerings
We may, from time to time, distribute rights to our shareholders, including rights to acquire securities. Under the Deposit Agreement, the Depositary will not distribute rights to holders of ADSs unless the distribution and sale of rights and the securities to which these rights relate are either exempt from registration under the Securities Act with respect to all holders of ADSs, or are registered under the provisions of the Securities Act. The depositary may, but is not required to, attempt to sell these undistributed rights to third parties, and may allow the rights to lapse. We may be unable to establish an exemption from registration under the Securities Act, and we are under no obligation to file a registration statement with respect to these rights or underlying securities or to endeavor to have a registration statement declared effective. Accordingly, holders of ADSs may be unable to participate in our rights offerings and may experience dilution of their holdings as a result.
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The time required for the exchange between ADSs and shares might be longer than expected and investors might not be able to settle or effect any sale of their securities during this period
There is no direct trading or settlement between the NYSE and the IDX on which our ADSs and the shares are respectively traded. In addition, the time differences between Indonesia and New York and unforeseen market circumstances or other factors may delay the deposit of shares in exchange of ADSs or the withdrawal of shares underlying the ADSs. Investors will be prevented from settling or effecting the sale of their securities during such periods of delay. In addition, there is no assurance that any exchange of shares into ADSs (and vice versa) will be completed in accordance with the timeline investors may anticipate.
We are established in Indonesia and it may not be possible for investors to effect service of process or enforce judgments, on us, our Commissioners, Directors or officers within the United States, or to enforce judgments of a foreign court against us or any of these persons in Indonesia
We are a state-owned limited liability company established in Indonesia, operating within the framework of Indonesian laws governing companies with limited liability, and all of our significant assets are located, and most of our current operations are conducted in Indonesia. In addition, all of our current Commissioners and Directors reside in Indonesia, are nationals of countries other than the United States and a substantial portion of the assets of such persons are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for investors to effect service of process, or enforce judgments on us or such persons within the United States, or to enforce against us or such persons in the United States, judgments obtained in United States courts.
We have been advised by Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners, our Indonesian legal advisor, that judgments of United States courts, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the United States federal securities laws or the securities laws of any State of the United States, are not enforceable in Indonesian courts, although such judgments could be admissible as non-conclusive evidence in a proceeding on the underlying claim in an Indonesian court. They have also advised that there is doubt as to whether Indonesian courts will enter judgments in original actions brought in Indonesian courts predicated solely upon the civil liability provisions of the United States federal securities laws or the securities laws of any state within the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against us or against our Commissioners, Directors or officers in the United States in the event that you believe that your rights have been infringed under the U.S. federal securities laws or otherwise. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, under the laws of the Republic of Indonesia you may be unable to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our Commissioners, Directors or officers as claimants would be required to pursue claims against us or such persons in Indonesian courts.
ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY
A. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPANY
Profile of Telkom Indonesia
Telkom is the largest telecommunications company in Indonesia, in terms of revenue and number of subscribers, providing fixed and mobile telecommunications services and solutions and ancillary services. We are innovative and seek to develop synergies among all of our products, services and solutions. Our long-term vision, which reflects our aspirations to be a more significant player in the digital space, is to be the preferred digital telecommunications company in Indonesia that provides society with the tools of its empowerment. Our missions are to rapidly build sustainable digital infrastructure and smart platforms that are affordable and accessible to all, nurture best-in-class digital talents to help develop Indonesia's digital capabilities and increase the penetration of digital technology and services in Indonesia, as well as orchestrate a comprehensive digital ecosystem to deliver superior customer experience up to international standards.
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In order to achieve our vision and missions, we continue to work to transform key aspects of our business: technology, organization, operation, people, and culture.
Company Name | : | Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk. |
Abbreviated Name | : | PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. |
Commercial Name | : | Telkom |
Line of Business | : | Telecommunications and informatics networks and services |
Tax Identification Number | : | 01.000.013.1-093.000 |
Business Identification Number | : | 9120304490415 |
Business License | : | 0029/IUP-UB/X/2017/DPMPTSP |
Domicile | : | Bandung, West Java |
Address | : | Jl. Japati No. 1, Bandung 40133, Indonesia |
Telephone | : | +62-22-4521404 |
Facsimile | : | +62-22-7206757 |
Call Center | : | +62-21-147 |
Website | : | www.telkom.co.id The information found on our website does not form part of this Form 20-F and is not incorporated by reference herein |
: | corporate_comm@telkom.co.id; investor@telkom.co.id | |
Ratings | : | International Ratings: "Baa1 (Stable)" by Moody's and "BBB (Stable)" Fitch for 2020 Domestic Rating: "idAAA" by Pefindo for 2020 |
Date of Legal Establishment | : | November 19, 1991 |
Legal Basis of Establishment | : | Based on Government Regulation No. 25 of 1991, the status of our Company was converted into a state-owned limited liability corporation ("Persero"), based on the Notarial Deed of Imas Fatimah, S.H. No.128 dated September 24, 1991, as approved by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Indonesia by virtue of Decision Letter No. C2-6870.HT.01.01.Th.1991 dated November 19, 1991 and as announced in the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia No. 5 dated January 17, 1992, Supplement to the State Gazette No.210 |
Ownership | : | – Government of the Republic of Indonesia – 52.09% – Public – 47.91% |
Listing on Stock Exchanges | : | Our shares of common stock were listed on the IDX and the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") on November 14, 1995 |
Stock Codes | : | – "TLKM" on the "IDX" – "TLK" on the "NYSE" |
Authorized Capital | : | 1 Dwiwarna Share and 399,999,999,999 shares of common stock |
Issued and Fully Paid Capital | : | 1 Dwiwarna Share and 99,062,216,599 shares of common stock |
Offices | : | – 1 Head Office – 7 Telkom Regional Offices and 61 Telecommunications Areas |
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Service Centers | : | – 383 Plasa Telkom outlets – 9 Global Offices in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Timor Leste, and the United States – 19 International GraPARI centers across Hong Kong, Taiwan and Timor Leste – 403 GraPARI centers in Indonesia (including 9 GraPARI Telkom Group in Medan, Pematang Siantar, Pangkal Pinang, Palembang, Tangerang, Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Sorong) – 365 GraPARI mobile units – 896 IndiHome sales car units |
Other Information | : | – Public Accountant KAP Purwantono, Sungkoro & Surja (a member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited) Indonesia Stock Exchange Building, Tower 2, 7th Floor, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52–53, Jakarta 12190, Indonesia |
| | – Securities Administration Bureau PT Datindo Entrycom Jl. Hayam Wuruk No.28, 2th Floor, Jakarta 10120, Indonesia |
| | – Trustee PT Bank Tabungan Negara (Persero) Tbk Menara BTN, 18th Floor, Jl. Gajah Mada No.1, Jakarta 10130, Indonesia PT Bank Permata Tbk Gedung WTC II, 28th Floor, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 29-31, Jakarta 12920, Indonesia |
| | – Custodian PT Kustodian Sentral Efek Indonesia Indonesia Stock Exchange Building, Tower 1, 5th Floor, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52–53, Jakarta 12190, Indonesia |
| | – Rating Agencies PT Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia Panin Tower Senayan City, 17th Floor, Jl. Asia Afrika Lot. 19, Jakarta 10270 Moody's Investors Service Singapore Pte. Ltd. 50 Raffles Place #23-06, Singapore Land Tower, Singapore 048623 Fitch Hong Kong Ltd. 19/F Man Yee Building, 68 Des Voeux Rd, Hong Kong |
| | – ADR Depositary The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation 240 Greenwich Street, NY, USA – 10286 |
| | – Authorized Agent for Service of Process in the United States Puglisi and Associates 850 Library Ave # 204, Newark, DE 19711, USA |
Employee Union | : | The Telkom Employees Union (Serikat Karyawan Telkom or "SEKAR") |
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Information about the legislation under which we operate and a description, including the amount invested, of our principal capital expenditures and divestitures (including interests in other companies), since the beginning of our last three financial years, is contained elsewhere in this Form 20-F.
Telkom Indonesia Milestones
1856-1884
On October 23, 1856, the Dutch Colonial Government deployed the first electromagnetic telegraph service operation in Indonesia, which connected Jakarta (Batavia) and Bogor (Buitenzorg). We consider this event to be part of the beginning of Telkom's history and have thus adopted October 23 as the anniversary of our "founding."
In 1884, the Dutch Colonial Government established a private entity, "Post en Telegraafdienst" to provide postal and telegraph services.
1906-1965
In 1906, the Dutch Colonial Government established an agency named Jawatan Pos, Telegrap dan Telepon (Post, Telegraph en Telephone Dienst) to assume control over postal services and telecommunications in Indonesia. In 1961, its status was changed to newly-established state-owned company, Perusahaan Negara Pos dan Telekomunikasi ("PN Postel"). In 1965, the Government separated postal and telecommunications services by dividing PN Postel into Perusahaan Negara Pos dan Giro and Perusahaan Negara Telekomunikasi ("PN Telekomunikasi").
1974
PN Telekomunikasi became Perusahaan Umum Telekomunikasi Indonesia ("Perumtel"), which provided domestic and international telecommunications services, and subsequently spun-off PT Industri Telekomunikasi Indonesia, which manufactured telecommunications equipment, into an independent company.
1991
Perumtel became a state-owned limited liability company and rebranded to Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia under Government Regulation No.25 of 1991.
1995
On May 26, 1995, we and Indosat established Telkomsel.
We completed our initial public offering and our shares were listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange and the Surabaya Stock Exchange (which have since merged to become the IDX). Our shares were also listed on the NYSE and the LSE in the form of ADSs, and were publicly offered without listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
1999
We launched the Telkom-1 satellite.
2001
We and Indosat eliminated joint ownership and cross-ownership in certain companies as part of the restructuring of the telecommunications industry in Indonesia. We acquired Indosat's 35.0% shareholding in Telkomsel, increasing our shareholding to 77.7%. We divested our 22.5% shareholding in PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia, or Satelindo, and 37.7% shareholding in PT Lintasarta Aplikanusa. At the same time, we lost our exclusive rights as the sole operator of fixed line services in Indonesia.
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2002
We divested a 12.72% shareholding in Telkomsel to Singapore Telecom Mobile Pte Ltd ("SingTel Mobile"), decreasing our shareholding in Telkomsel to 65.0%.
2004
We launched an international direct dialing service for fixed lines with the access code of 007.
2005
We launched the Telkom-2 satellite.
2009
We underwent a transformation from an information telecommunications company to become a Telecommunication, Information, Media and Edutainment ("TIME") company. Our new image was introduced to the public with a new corporate logo and the slogan of "the world in your hand."
2010
We completed the JaKaLaDeMa submarine fiber optic cable project in April 2010 which connected Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Denpasar and Mataram.
2011
We commenced the reformation of our telecommunications infrastructure through the completion of the Telkom Nusantara Super Highway project, which unites the Indonesian archipelago from Sumatra to Papua, as well as the True Broadband Access project to provide internet access with a capacity of 20 Mbps to 100 Mbps to customers throughout Indonesia.
2012
We increased broadband penetration through the development of Indonesia Wi-Fi as part of our "Indonesia Digital Network" (IDN) program. We also reconfigured our business portfolio from TIME to TIMES to increase our ability to create business value.
2014
We became the first operator in Indonesia to commercially launch 4G/LTE services in December 2014.
2015
We launched IndiHome, which bundles all-in-one packages services consisting primarily of broadband internet, fixed wireline phone and interactive TV services.
2016
We completed the construction of our new headquarters in Jakarta which we designed as a "smart office" with open office layout and smart building features in order to provide an inspirational working environment for our employees.
In December 2016, we completed the construction of the submarine cable systems Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5 (SEA-ME-WE-5).
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2017
The Telkom 3S satellite was launched in February 2017 and fully commenced operations on schedule, starting in April 2017.
In August 2017, we completed the Southeast Asia-United States (SEA-US) submarine fiber cable connecting Manado, Indonesia to California, United States. The SEA-US cable is built, owned, and operated by a consortium of seven companies.
In October 2017, Telkomsel secured an additional 30 MHz spectrum at 2.3 GHz frequency, after winning the auction held by MoCI.
2018
We launched the Telkom Merah Putih satellite, which began providing coverage for all of Indonesia, Southeast Asia and South Asia in August 2018.
We inaugurated The Telkom Hub, a hub for developing digital entrepreneurs, digital infrastructure and solutions, and fostering a culture of digital. This hub also serves as a social and technology education center that provides digital customer care services. It is a center of excellence and it intended to facilitate the Government's digital initiatives such as "Making Indonesia 4.0," "2020 Go Digital Vision," and "One Data Indonesia."
In December 2018, we completed the construction of the Indonesia Global Gateway (IGG) submarine cable, which connects two major submarine cable systems: the South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5 (SEA-ME-WE 5) and the Southeast Asia- United States (SEA-US) Submarine Cable Systems.
The number of IndiHome subscribers reached 5.1 million.
2019
We sold 654,804 shares, representing 67.0%, of PT Jalin Pembayaran Nusantara ("Jalin") to PT Danareksa (Persero), a state-owned enterprise, for the value of Rp394,569,700,000.00. As at the date hereof, we hold 33.0% interest in Jalin.
On February 19, 2019, we acquired (through Mitratel) 95.0% of the share capital in PT Persada Sokka Tama, a company engaged in the telecommunications tower business with 1,017 towers located throughout Indonesia. In December 2019, we completed the acquisition of 2,100 telecommunications towers from PT Indosat Tbk in Indonesia.
We reconfigured our business portfolio from TIMES to a five-segment portfolio (Mobile, Consumer, Enterprise, Wholesale, International Business, and Others) to reflect our customer-centric mindset and enhance and create value to our customers.
Telkomsel added 23,162 BTS towers to its BTS network, representing a 12.25% increase compared to 2018.
The number of IndiHome subscribers increased by 1.9 million, or 37.2%, from 5.1 million subscribers in 2018 to 7.0 million subscribers.
In November 2019, Telkom was awarded the "2019 Indonesia IoT Services Provider of the Year" by Frost and Sullivan at the Asia Pacific Best Practice Awards.
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2020
We actively took part into several initiatives in response to the COVID-19 outbreak at the level of our company, our communities and nationally. In particular, we further increased our network reliability and availability, and accessibility to our services at affordable prices as more people were asked to work from home or study from home. We also participated in the development of tracking applications, including for purposes of the Indonesian vaccination campaign.
We started building a Telkom HyperScale Data Center in July 2020. This mega-capacity data center of tier 3 and 4 class will complement 26 data centers which are already operational (five international data centers, 18 neuCentrIX and three tier 3 and 4 data centers). Telkom HyperScale Data Center is intended to support Indonesia's digital transformation by enabling global players and corporations from various sectors such as financial institutions, the Government and its agencies, manufacturers, content providers, global cloud providers to further develop access to their services and continue their digitalization efforts.
In October 2020, Telkomsel entered into a conditional sales and purchase agreement for the sale of 6,050 telecommunication towers to Mitratel. The transfer of these telecommunication towers is expected to strengthen Mitratel’s core business and increase its value, as well as help achieve its long-term plans.
In November 2020, Telkomsel entered into a new collaboration with, and made a USD150 million investment in PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa (“Gojek”).
Telkomsel added 18,937 BTS towers to its BTS network, representing a 8.9% increase compared to 2019.
The number of IndiHome subscribers increased by 1.0 million, or 14.5%, from 7.0 million subscribers in 2019 to 8.0 million subscribers.
Strategy
As the largest telecommunications company in Indonesia, we intend to become the preferred digital telecommunications company in Indonesia that contributes to the prosperity and competitiveness of Indonesia while creating and delivering value to our stakeholders. We intend to rapidly build sustainable digital infrastructure and smart platforms that will be competitively priced, affordable and accessible to a wide range of customers. We also nurture best-in-class digital talents who will contribute to the development of Indonesia's digital capabilities and increase the penetration of digital technologies and services, as well as improve our customers' experience through the development of a comprehensive digital ecosystem.
We seek to understand and anticipate customers' needs to deliver the best customer experience and exceed our customers' expectations by facilitating customers' interactions with us, including through digital interfaces (for the purchase of products and service, making payments, submitting requests for service upgrades or submitting complaints for instance). Such interactions are supported by digitalized processes. We also maximize our engagement with customers through our customer relationship management through our CFUs. We aim to become more agile as an organization and foster a digital culture, for instance by eliminating manual processes, encouraging a start-up model and work methods, optimizing business processes to facilitate faster development of products and services in accordance with customers' needs and expectations, shorten time-to-market, allocate resources more efficiently, and encourage and nurture digital talents sourced internally or externally. This enables us to maintain or improve our cost competitiveness while focusing on operational excellence to deliver quality products and services to our customers.
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We have been strengthening our digital capabilities and intend to further expand our leadership in connectivity-driven business and provide end-to-end digital experience to our customers. We have been enhancing our digital connectivity offering to businesses, invested in our digital platform, and diversified our digital service offering as we pursue maximizing value to our customers and stakeholders through cash flow optimization, value creation and the enhancement of synergies. To that end, we have been expanding the backbone network infrastructure and broadband network access throughout Indonesia and expanded and improved our offering of digital services. For instance, in the mobile segment, we have developed digital advertising, mobile banking and financial services and the IoT, in addition to digital lifestyle services that focus on providing cellular technology-based entertainment experiences such as music, video streaming, games, and other value-added mobile service platforms. In the Enterprise segment, we provide end-to-end digital solutions for corporate customers, small and medium business and government institutions that require digital connectivity, IT services, data center and cloud, business process outsourcing and other support services. In the Consumer segment, we offer more high-speed package options, TV/Video channels, games, and improved the monetization of digital inventory for digital advertising. In the Wholesale and International Business segment, we provide digital connectivity including data centers for service providers and digital players, both domestically and globally.
We also engage in inorganic growth to enhance our digital capabilities and strengthen our digital services ecosystem, through acquisitions and collaborations or partnerships with other parties who have superior digital capabilities. For instance, in 2019 and 2021, our subsidiary Mitratel acquired equity interests in PT Persada Sokka Tama (resulting in PT Persada Sokka Tama becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitratel in the first quarter of 2021) and acquired 2,100 telecommunications towers from PT Indosat Tbk in Indonesia; in October 2020, Mitratel entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Telkomsel for the acquisition of 6,050 telecommunications towers, 1,911 of which were transferred to Mitratel in October 2020 with the remaining balance similarly transferred in February 2021. With those acquisitions, we seek to continue to consolidate and strengthen our telecommunications tower network throughout Indonesia. Furthermore, we continue to strengthen our digital ecosystem: in 2020, we have entered into a strategic partnership with Gojek and our subsidiary Telkomsel invested US$150 million in the form of a subscription to convertible bonds in this innovative and well-recognized Indonesian technology company. We expect this strategic partnership will allow us to provide users and the community with better services and solutions through the development of an inclusive and sustainable digital ecosystem. While we expand and diversify our businesses, we intend to maintain our high corporate governance standards and enhance our risk management and compliance functions.
In pursuing our objective to create corporate value, we implement principles of good governance and guidelines and initiatives to achieve sustainable growth. There are five main components in our corporate and social responsibility initiatives that we implement to achieve such sustainable growth:
● technology and digitalization: we select and use technology that suits a sustainable business, both considering the social and environmental impacts of such technology and the use of resources it requires. We have implemented and keep developing digitalized processes internally to increase efficiency and optimize the use of resources;
● data and information: we have a strong commitment to data privacy and security, in particular in connection with our customers' information. Data security and privacy are increasingly the focus of laws and regulations and we have a responsibility to prevent the misappropriation and misuse of confidential data and information and the illegal use of our network and equipment to obtain such information and data;
● customer engagement: we regularly engage with our customers to maintain and increase their satisfaction and loyalty and better understand and anticipate their needs and concerns, including their sustainability values and aspirations;
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● our people and culture: we believe in our people and invest in the development of a digitally-savvy workforce and seek to instill a culture that values professionalism and the acquisition of new skills. We respect diversity in the workplace and believe in giving equal opportunities to people of different backgrounds and gender; and
● sustainable economy: we believe we are well placed to directly and indirectly promote sustainability by supporting and enabling the development of digitalization and promoting corporate practices which are respectful of the environment.
Business Portfolios
Our business portfolios are organized through business lines that can be categorized into three digital domains: digital connectivity, digital platform and digital service, along with our legacy services comprising voice and SMS services. Our product portfolios are operated under the following five key segments to create, enhance and deliver value to our customers:
● mobile segment comprises mobile broadband services, mobile digital services that include financial services, video on demand (VOD), music, gaming, IoT solutions, big data analytics, digital ads, and mobile legacy services such as mobile voice and SMS;
● consumer segment comprises fixed voice services, fixed broadband services, IPTV, and related consumer digital services;
● enterprise segment mainly comprises ICT and digital platform that covers enterprise-grade connectivity services, including satellite, IT services, data center and cloud, business process outsourcing, and other adjacent services;
● wholesale and international business segment comprises wholesale telecommunications carrier services, international business, tower business, and infrastructure and network management services; and
● other segment comprises digital services offerings such as digital platform, digital content, and e-commerce for B2B to support other segments, and property management as our effort to leverage Telkom's property assets across Indonesia.
Historically, we generated the largest share of our revenue from services relating to digital connectivity. Our business has not experienced significant seasonality.
The following is a brief overview of our product portfolios.
1. Mobile Segment
Our mobile segment portfolio comprises mobile voice, SMS, mobile data services, and mobile digital services. We provide mobile and cellular communications services with GSM, 3G and 4G/LTE technology through our subsidiary, Telkomsel. Mobile services (including mobile data services) remained the largest contributor to our consolidated revenues in 2020.
Our prepaid services, used by 96.2% of our cellular subscribers as of December 31, 2020, are marketed under the brands simPATI, Kartu As, Loop and by.U, our postpaid mobile services, used by 3.8% of our cellular subscribers as of December 31, 2020, are marketed under the brand kartuHalo.
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Our total cellular subscriber base decreased by 0.9% or 1.6 million subscribers, from 171.1 million subscribers (comprising 164.7 million prepaid subscribers and 6.4 million postpaid subscribers) as of December 31, 2019, to 169.5 million subscribers (comprising 163.0 million prepaid subscribers and 6.5 million postpaid subscribers), as of December 31, 2020. The decrease in our total cellular subscriber base was mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic which had a negative impact on the overall Indonesian economy and individuals' purchasing power. In addition, we were and are still subject to intense competition in our industry.
Our mobile broadband services for all of our customers are supported by 4G/LTE/HSDPA/3G/EDGE/GPRS technology. As of December 31, 2020, we had 115.9 million Telkomsel data users, compared to 110.3 million data users as of December 31, 2019, an increase of 5.2%, or 5.7 million data users. This increase was primarily due to the launch of our new Smart program in 2020 in an effort to customers' demand, market dynamics and affordability concerns. We took initiatives to increase our competitiveness and retain existing customers or acquire new customers with better-priced products with added value to customers and increased network capacity. In addition, we continue to explore opportunities for digitalization to meet customers' needs, increase connectivity and identify new sources of growth. We have expanded our product portfolio to offer services related to health-tech, edu-tech, gaming, video contents, fintech and services to support the B2B segment.
In addition to our digital connectivity business, we established several digital service offerings within our mobile segment with a specific focus on: financial services, video on demand, music, gaming, advertising and IoT. Our mobile segment comprises a financial payment platform, T-Cash, that pioneered digital payment when it started in 2007. In 2019, T-Cash became LinkAja under PT Fintek Karya Nusantara ("Finarya"). As at the date hereof, Telkomsel owns a 25% equity interest in Finarya. We also offer video content on demand under MAXstream, a one-stop video portal that aggregates Over The Top video applications, linear channels, Video On Demand and other original contents from Disney+, Netflix and other Over The Top video service providers through a bundling of broadband data packages. We provide music and gaming services that offer a mobile entertainment experience by targeting various consumer segments and leveraging Telkomsel's trusted billing system. We have applications for music (e.g., Langit Musik and an application for ring back tones) and Telkomsel Dunia Games, which provides a complete gaming ecosystem combining media contents, distribution, payment facilities, e-sport and game publishing. We launched online games and started developing gaming communities to expand our customer experience in that area in 2019.
In November 2020, Telkomsel and Gojek entered into an ambitious strategic partnership. We believe this partnership with a premier and innovative technology company such as Gojek will be transformative for Telkomsel and help Telkomsel achieve its goal to become a truly digital telecommunications company. Gojek has already developed a complete and well-recognized digital ecosystem for users, drivers and merchants. Our partnership with Gojek is multi-faceted. We intend to jointly promote products and services such as SIM card promotions and advertising packages, and carry out co-branding activities to better service our respective customers and expand our addressable markets. For instance, we have offered data packages and discounts designed for Gojek drivers. We also collaborate with Gojek to better understand consumption habits and the behaviors of users and customers to improve our products and solutions offerings. We expect Telkomsel will further diversify its product offering and increase data revenue, expand its total addressable market, achieve higher data penetration, reduce customer churn and consolidate its leadership position thanks to the opportunities this partnership will create.
The Job Creation Law, passed in 2020, aims, among other things, to support the acceleration of digitalization and accessibility of broadband services in Indonesia through various means, including preventing inefficiencies through the optimization of the frequency spectrum and limiting passive infrastructure with certain network sharing obligations imposed on non-telecommunications companies (under certain conditions), and ensuring a sustainable competitive environment through price regulation. As set out in GR No.46/2021, November 2, 2022, is the deadline for the switch from analog to digital television broadcasting as analog television broadcasting will have to cease by then. Such analog switch off (ASO) will free up 112MHz in the 700MHz frequency band that can be used for mobile data.
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2. Consumer Segment
Our consumer segment portfolio comprises fixed voice, fixed broadband services, and IPTV including consumer digital services. It is marketed under the retail brand "IndiHome," a product that allows customers to choose one or more of such services.
In 2020, we continued to actively promote our "more for less" program, which aims to provide customers with more relevant benefits at a competitive price through bundling services. These services consisted of broadband internet, fixed wireline phone and interactive TV services. We offered promotions for IndiHome products during festive campaigns and offered year-end and seasonal packages at a promotional price. Such offers were intended to increase revenue from upselling and cross-selling our products and services. Considering challenges faced by our customers and the public during the COVID-19 outbreak, we have also launched specifically-designed packages to assist people who had or still have to study or learn from home or involved in distance learning activities ("Paket Learning From Home" and "Paket Guru dan Dosen" packages). We have also provided special packages for places of worship to support their online activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, we continue to develop products and technologies to meet our customers' aspirations and needs. In 2020, we launched IndiHome Gamer 2.0 with an improved speed ratio. We also partnered with game publishers to launch new games as add-on benefits, enhance our cloud storage services with new features, and expand our customers' ability to upgrade the speed of their internet.
Our IPTV service, IndiHome TV, is bundled within our IndiHome service offering, delivered via Android TV box devices connected with the Google Ecosystem. Our IPTV services include linear TV channels, TV-on-demand, video-on-demand (VOD), and are extended to add OTT services with the UseeTV Go application and UseeTV.com website for enjoying multi-screening and access to TV anywhere. We continue to enrich the variety of our IndiHome TV channels with new high-definition channels such as HGTV, CinemaWorld, Discovery, Disney Junior, Animax, and our very own news and lifestyle channel SEA Today, one of our 7 in-house channels. IndiHome TV Channel delivers 242 channels (156 SD Channels, 81 HD Channels and 5 Dolby Channels).
We also offer OTT contents from partners such as iflix, Catchplay+, Vidio and Mola TV to enhance our customers' experience. In addition, we released new VOD, and GameQoo cloud gaming services for users of IndiBox, our OTT services based on Android TV Box devices that we launched in 2019 and allow customers to access streaming TV, music, games, various applications and VOD. As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately 8 million fixed broadband IndiHome customers and we estimate this represented approximately 82.3% of the market share of fixed broadband customers in Indonesia.
We also offer wifi.id services to our IndiHome customers, an add-on service which allows such customers to enjoy unlimited internet access at all wifi.id access points in Indonesia. Wifi.id stands for Indonesia Wi-Fi, our wireless public internet network that provides user facilities to enjoy high-speed internet services and various other multimedia services.
3. Enterprise Segment
Our enterprise segment comprises mainly ICT and platform services that cover enterprise-grade connectivity services (including satellite services), data center and cloud, IT services, business process outsourcing, and other ancillary services.
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For enterprise connectivity, we offer fixed broadband, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and data communication services, including a SD-WAN ecosystem enabling higher performance of WANs, leased channels such as metro Ethernet, VPN-IP, high-capacity data network solutions giving point-to-point connection with high-capacity bandwidth, and fixed voice services, among others. We also provide satellite services as part of enterprise connectivity offering and continue to strengthen our presence in this sector through our providing of transponder capacity leasing, satellite secondary product lines and other satellite support solutions. Our satellite operations consist primarily of leasing satellite transponder capacity to broadcasters and operators of VSAT, cellular services, and ISPs, as well as providing earth station satellite up-link and down-link services for domestic and international users.
To address the significant increase in demand, we continue to enhance our data center facilities and cloud services. Our offering includes the providing of enterprise data center, collocation, hosting, disaster recovery centers, managed operation, data center consulting, and various cloud services such as private cloud, hybrid cloud and public cloud. In December 2020, we launched Flou cloud services which provide a hybrid cloud (a mix of private and public cloud functions) targeting SME customers with affordable tier-based pricing packages. In June 2020, we launched Flou Cloud, cloud services designed to support their transition towards digitalization of Indonesian startups, small and medium businesses, companies and government agencies. Cloud services offered include cloud computing services, data storage and management, network services, data protection and access to databases.
We provide system integration and IT service management, together with related business process management, business process as-a-service and customer relationship management services. We aspire to digitalize our service offering further, therefore, we are relentlessly focusing on strengthening our IT capabilities to reinforce our offerings going forward.
We also provide smart enabler platform services to promote innovation with next-generation technology solution, integrated industry ecosystems and to foster changes in consumer behavior in Indonesia. Our adjacent services comprise diverse services relating to software, devices and hardware (including IT hardware) sales and certain related services such as IT support services. Moreover, we offer financial services which consist of bill payment aggregators, electronic payment platform services, online payment solutions, payment switching services. We also offer digital advertising solutions such as media placement services and creative solutions, integrated digital media services such as digital out-of-home, mobile advertising, online advertising, and digital printing services. Big data and data analytics in the form of platform services that generate insights for customers to analyze consumer behavior and create more efficient marketing campaigns are also included in our service portfolio. We also provide smart enablers platform services and assist with customer relationship management, among other things: IoT services which offer IoT solutions for buildings, IoT applications for smart energy monitoring and management, fleet management, unified communication and collaboration services, IT security services, and other adjacent services. Lastly, our e-Health solutions provide a simplified procedure and standardized healthcare claim process between healthcare providers, patients, and insurance providers that leverages our digital and IT service capabilities.
A number of our customers whose business and operations have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have requested payment extensions for payments relating to projects completed in 2020, which we have been generally agreeable to. Such deferred payments, however, did not have a significant impact on our cash flows and results of operations in 2020.
4. Wholesale and International Segment
Our wholesale and international business segment includes our wholesale telecommunications carrier services business, tower business, infrastructure services business, and international business.
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The telecommunications carrier services we offer comprise primarily network services, data and internet, as well as interconnection services, value added services, voice-hubbing, data centers, platforms, and solutions. We earn revenue from interconnection services from other telecommunications operators which utilize our network and infrastructure in Indonesia, both for calls that terminate at or transit via our network. Similarly, we also pay interconnection fees to other telecommunications operators when we use their networks to connect a call from our customers. Interconnection services that we provide to other telecommunications operators comprise domestic and international interconnection services. With regards to our tower business, we lease out space to other operators to place their telecommunications equipment on these towers, for which we receive a fee. As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately 35,822 towers, comprising approximately 18,473 towers owned by Mitratel, approximately 1,349 towers owned by Telkom (PAK), and approximately 16,000 towers owned by Telkomsel. We aim to consistently expand our tower business, as we believe this is a strategic business in the telecommunications industry and intend to increase our tower rental revenues.
We also seek to improve our operation and maintenance efficiency by digitizing our internal business processes. In March 2019, through Mitratel, we acquired 95.0% of the share capital in PT Persada Sokka Tama, a company engaged in the telecommunications tower business with 1,017 towers located throughout Indonesia. We have pursued this acquisition to strengthen Mitratel's position in the Indonesian telecommunications tower industry. In December 2019, Mitratel completed the acquisition of 2,100 telecommunications towers for Rp4,443.9 billion from PT Indosat Tbk, a telecommunications operator company in Indonesia. This acquisition will strengthen Mitratel's business and is in line with Mitratel's long term strategy. In October 2020, Mitratel entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of 6,050 towers from Telkomsel, 1,911 of which were transferred to Mitratel in October 2020 and 4,139 of which were transferred in February 2021. In February 2021, Mitratel acquired a 5% equity interest in PT Persada Sokka Tama (which therefore became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitratel as a result of such transaction).
We provide managed infrastructure and network services by performing network construction and maintenance including laying and maintaining submarine cable, and energy solutions for telecommunications infrastructure ecosystems. We accomplish this through leveraging existing business in our portfolio and developing in-house capabilities and innovative solutions. As part of our infrastructure portfolio, we have developed energy management solutions. As such, we completed the delivery and installation of diesel power plants in the Kalimantan and Sulawesi regions in 2018; after completion of this project, we were engaged by a State-Owned Enterprise to manage the maintenance of the diesel engines we had delivered and installed in Kalimantan and other eastern regions of Indonesia up to 2021. The construction of the Southeast Asia-United States (SEA-US) submarine fiber cable was completed in 2018 connecting Manado, Indonesia to California and the IGG submarine fiber cable, which has enhanced connectivity among major cities in Indonesia while directly connecting Indonesia to South East Asia, the Middle East, Western Europe and the United States. We expect further deployment of submarine-fiber cables in the future.
Telecommunications tower providers are also transitioning towards more digitalization, for instance by offering digital services such as fiber optic services. The increase in data usage and high bandwidth applications makes it necessary to bring computers and data storage close to customers and setting up edge computing on tower sites by deploying micro data centers close to the network edge may provide business opportunities to telecommunications tower providers. Demand for and reliance on edge computing technology is also expected to increase with the emergence and development of high throughput and low latency applications such as high-speed video services, augmented reality and virtual reality applications, autonomous driving and other communication applications. We expect the future deployment of 5G technology will also provide growth opportunities to our wholesale segment. The deployment of 5G technology in Indonesia is subject to various factors and conditions but we intend to pioneer such deployment in a cost-efficient and phased approach to offer 5G wholesale services in Indonesia.
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In addition, in 2020, we noticed an increase in demand for our A2P SMS services in response to changes in consumption habits caused by the COVID-19 outbreak and measures implemented by the Government and private sector players in response to the outbreak. During the pandemic, large-scale social restrictions (Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar ("PSBB")) such as restrictions on travel and social activities, health and safety measures implemented by companies and also customers' personal preferences caused an increase in customers' digital activities from home, such as work-from-home or study-from-home. Most of such activities conducted virtually from home reflected a change in lifestyle that led to increased consumption of mobile applications (games, social media, online shopping, access to online services, e-commerce platforms, use of digital video and music platforms, for instance). The use of such applications, which often require notifications and authentication of users, resulted in increased use of our A2P SMS services.
In 2020, we have consolidated and expanded our data center capabilities, offering cloud services and marketplace services. Telin initiated the deployment of its NeuCentrIX data center services, with completed data center capacity expansions in Indonesia, at new locations or existing locations through retrofitting of certain of our datacenters. Telin plans to continue the deployment of our new NeuCentrIX data center capacities. Telin also developed its NeuAPIX cloud-based CPaaS services to provide small, medium and large companies and business owners with omni-channel communication features (bots and live chats, real-time voice capabilities, SMS, emails, video calls and messaging services such as Line or Facebook messenger). PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Internasional ("Telin") also launched NeuTrafiX, a web-based public exchange platform for connecting buyers and sellers easily and transparently for wholesale voice, SMS and virtual numbers trading.
We also have limited operations and/or interests in a number of jurisdictions outside Indonesia in telecommunications and data related areas. Our subsidiary, Telin, manages our international operations in the following jurisdictions:
● Singapore, through Telekomunikasi Indonesia International Pte. Ltd. ("Telin Singapore"), where we operate as an end-to-end information and communication technology provider, providing cloud and connectivity, wholesale voice services and data center and managed services;
● Hong Kong, through Telekomunikasi Indonesia International Ltd. ("Telin Hong Kong"), where we provide wholesale voice services, wholesale data services, satellite transponder services, retail mobile services (MVNO), and where we also operate a GraPARI center and a data center;
● Timor Leste, through Telekomunikasi Indonesia International S.A. ("Telin Timor Leste"), where we provide mobile cellular services, enterprise solutions and wholesale and international services, and operate a data center;
● Australia, through Telekomunikasi Indonesia International Pty. Ltd. ("Telin Australia") and its subsidiary, Contact Centres Australia Pty. Ltd. ("OneContact"), where we provide business process outsourcing services;
● Taiwan, through Telin Taiwan Limited, where we provide retail mobile services (MVNO) and operate a GraPARI center;
● Malaysia, through Telekomunikasi Indonesia International Sdn. Bhd. ("Telin Malaysia"), where we have a majority ownership interest in a joint venture that provides retail mobile services (MVNO), international airtime services and support and wholesale voice services. We also provide VSAT services to corporate customers through TS Global Network Sdn Bhd.;
● The United States, through Telekomunikasi Indonesia International Inc. ("Telin USA"), where we provide data services, internet connectivity (locating and operating PoP, peering, transit) services and wholesale voice services;
● Myanmar, through a branch office, where we provide IP transit services and dedicated internet access; and
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● New Zealand, through Contact Centres New Zealand Limited ("OneContact"), where we provide business process outsourcing services.
We regularly assess the overseas operations, their profitability, prospects and strategic positioning in order to optimize our portfolio structure. We may make further investments or divest existing investments from time to time based on such assessments. In Indonesia, we expect further consolidation in the telecommunications tower business.
As of the date hereof, the COVID-19 outbreak did not have any material impact on the number of our wholesale customers. A number of our customers' projects have been postponed in 2020 but nonetheless started before the end of 2020 and such delays did not have any significant impact on our business and results of operations for 2020.
5. Other segments
Digital Services
Our digital services portfolio primarily comprises media and edutainment services targeted to digital consumers. Our diverse digital portfolio is clustered into a smart platform and gives access to digital contents and e-commerce. We also manage a venture capital fund through our subsidiary, PT Metra Digital Investama (also known as MDI Ventures) to invest in digital startups.
Our smart platform business line consists of digital advertising, intelligent applications, big data, IoT, and financial services. Our financial services offering focuses on creating a digital financial ecosystem by offering digital payment solutions. For example, LinkAja (formerly known as T-CASH) is an electronic money service provided by Telkomsel, that provides a digital solution that enables Telkomsel consumers to perform banking activities in a safe, easy and simple manner. With LinkAja, activities such as paying bills, transferring funds, and making online and offline retail payments can be done easily on our consumers' smartphones and/or feature phones. In January 2018, we acquired a 30% equity interest in Cellum, a financial technology company which provides a digital wallet platform to strengthen our financial technology capability. On February 22, 2019, T-CASH changed its brand name to LinkAja after Telkomsel entered into a non-cash share subscription for shares in Finarya. The comprehensive financial services offered by LinkAja are expected to further accelerate financial inclusion and foster the development of a cashless society as envisioned by the Government in its Non-Cash National Movement Program. As at the date hereof, Telkomsel owns a 25% equity interest in Finarya. Our investment and strategic partnership with Gojek will also allow us to expand our digital ecosystem, benefit from co-branding and joint promotional activities and bring us closer to customers of digital services.
Our big data and smart platform is a business we carry out by acting as a platform enabler providing common horizontal solution components that can be used across industries and market segments. We provide an IoT platform, Antares, for the enterprise segment that can be used in multiple environments and industries such as for smart connected airports or smart manufacturing. Developers can also use the platform to create and test IoT products. We also offer our enterprise customers big data solutions, analytics and deep insight tools through our big data platform, BigBox, to meet their operational and business needs for decision-making, governance, strategy, and even for assessing their prospects.
Our digital advertising services cover digital advertising and mobile banking solutions. Our digital advertising business provides digital advertising media solutions for marketers. Our mobile banking solution business provides mobile functions for the banking industry, such as SMS and user menu browser services. We also operate an ad exchange platform that brings publishers, advertisers, and agencies together to be able to carry out digital advertising activities effectively and efficiently by linking buyers to sellers in one advertisement marketplace. We also deliver services such as digital advertising agency, integrated digital media, and big data analytics.
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Our digital content portfolio comprises music and gaming. We manage our digital content portfolio across the Group and also manage the relevant value chains which mainly consists of sourcing content, providing the content platform, dealing with payments and marketing. Our digital content portfolio focuses on providing consumers with a mobile entertainment experience. It targets different consumer segments and leverages Telkomsel's trusted billing system to facilitate transactions. It offers applications for music (e.g., Langit Musik and an application for ring back tones) and GameMax, which combines game content data for several games and game vouchers. We launched online games and started developing gaming communities to expand our customer experience in that area in 2019 and we further developed this type of offering in 2020 with the publication of new games and a team specifically dedicated to developing this business. Until September 2020, our e-Commerce business operated under the brand of BLANJA.com, an online marketplace that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales. In September 2020, we officially ceased all transactions on this platform as it had not achieved results that allowed it to successfully compete with marketplaces such as Tokopedia, Shopee, and Bukalapak which had entered the market earlier. In the future, we will focus on B2B e-commerce opportunities through Pasar Digital (PaDi) UMKM to expand our business and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) ecosystem in accordance with our digitization program. Consumers can sell and buy products through their TV by accessing our IndiHome Store and Alfamidi @ IndiHome, which is a partnership between the Alfa retail store and IndiHome. We also introduced a B2B marketplace called Xooply in 2018 which provides our e-commerce business with growth opportunities. In 2020, we focused our B2B marketplace on supporting transactions between SOEs and MSME Indonesian suppliers and increasing the number of merchants and customers that use Xooply as we seek to contribute to the resilience of local supply chains during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Property Management
Consistent with our Company's strategy to accelerate the creation of a digital ecosystem, we prioritize increasing asset utilization while leveraging on our sizeable property asset portfolio in areas of lower data usage through external partnerships and collaborations, in particular through our "go digital Telkom" program that focuses on expanding digital capacity and our network of datacenters. We also continue delivering efficient space allocation for our legacy network equipment and enjoyable office experience for our employees. We execute this leveraging process through our subsidiary, PT Graha Sarana Duta ("Telkom Property"), and offer services such as property development (planning, development and construction of property area), property leasing (property rent and leasing), property facilities (business line engaged in retail and leasing, transportation management system) and property management (building management, mall, apartment and security services). These services contribute to the increase of our property asset utilization and diversification of our digital ecosystem.
In 2020 we focused on the conversion of existing buildings or available space into data centers to support an acceleration in the pace of digitalization of our customers, in particular for our customers who offer ICT services and solutions, in particular in areas of high traffic. We also successfully developed several commercial projects such as retail minimart outlets throughout Indonesia and the Telkom Landmark Tower Surabaya Office Building Complex in East Java through our targeted retail and strategic partnership projects. We also repurposed and refurbished our regional sales building in Surabaya for use as a campus with expanded educational facilities, which helped us maintain this building's utilization rate and partially recover fixed costs relating to this asset. We also launched a capsule hotel with one of our partners in Semarang, Central Java.
Despite a challenging environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue looking for opportunities to increase revenue by leveraging our property portfolio, in particular through revenue collected from third-party lessees. In the short term, several food and beverage (F&B) retail openings by third-party lessees have already been planned. We will also ramp up our collaboration with educational institutions by providing idle land or buildings to be converted into campuses and leased to universities and schools. Our strategy also includes harnessing the captive market of SOEs and other government institutions to facilitate their opening of branches or sales offices throughout Indonesia.
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In addition to leveraging our idle properties through partnerships as described above, we incorporate our digital competence and product solutions into our offerings. For example, we provide network connectivity or internet access to our tenants or their customers as additional amenities. These digital features contribute to the increased value of our asset offerings and help to diversify our digital ecosystem. We also create partnerships with digital workplace enterprises through a co-working space business initiative. Aside from generating income from our property business, our property management business also serves internal customers by providing efficient space allocation for our network equipment and an enjoyable work environment for our employees and partners, which fall under our "group synergy projects." Such property assets come in the form of buildings that function as our network nodes, sales points, customer service centers, headquarter or branch offices, other businesses, land banks, and landed residential properties. Our goals for these projects are to achieve economies of scale and cost efficiency.
Network Infrastructure and Development
In line with our vision and mission, we classify our network infrastructure into two categories, namely: (i) our national network infrastructure, to support our Indonesia Digital Network program, which we discuss in greater detail below and (ii) our international network infrastructure, to support our international expansion program.
National Network
We believe infrastructure development and the provision of connectivity are crucial aspects in our vision to become the "King of Digital." We continue to pursue the development of our network infrastructure to offer more efficient and cost-competitive services, in line with the Government's Indonesia Broadband Plan which lays out the Government's aspirations to accelerate and expand broadband penetration in Indonesia. The COVID-19 outbreak has also increased focus on the need to accelerate digitization in Indonesia and the deployment of 5G technology. In addition, we aim to continue to develop and improve our network infrastructure with a view to developing a high-quality, efficient and competitive infrastructure in terms of costs for delivery of services.
As a result, we plan to continue to actualize digitization in Indonesia through our Indonesia Digital Network program which comprises three components, namely id-Convergence ("id-Con"), id-Ring and id-Access, described below:
● id-Con: represents our aim to realize the convergence of various elements of our network infrastructure into an integrated multi-service and multi-device Next Generation Network. id-Con is a strategic initiative that focuses on providing a platform for the design, development and delivery of the services and solutions we offer. In order to develop such platform and ensure the reliability and scalability of the services and solutions we offer, we intend to continue utilizing our data center facilities and our cloud management platform. In addition, we are focused on securing the integrity of our platforms. We aim to continue designing and developing industry-specific smart enabler platforms for certain industries in Indonesia, such as the transportation, healthcare and public sectors.
● id-Ring: represents our aim to develop a resilient nationwide fiber optic backbone and establishing our domestic network infrastructure as a hub for international broadband traffic. In order to implement this strategy, we are developing the IGG cable system, which we completed in December 2018. It will leverage Indonesia's strategic geographic location and provide an alternative direct broadband connection between Europe, Asia and America. In addition, we have developed a nationwide infrastructure network with a fiber optic backbone, which covers 458 cities in Indonesia as of December 31, 2020. In 2020, we continued to increase the number of our access points and points of presence. We also continued to re-engineer and re-inforce the network for future service readiness programs that require huge capacity, ultra-low latency and massive connectivity by more efficient total cost development. Furthermore, our Merah Putih Satellite was launched in August 2018 and began commercial operations in September 2018. This satellite has a capacity of 60 TPE, which consists of 48 C-Band transponders and 12 extended C-Band transponders and will cover the Southeast Asia and South Asia regions. Operating our own satellites reduces our dependency on foreign satellite operators for capacity. It also provides us with better ICT to service remote areas within Indonesia.
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● id-Access: represents our strategy to increase nationwide fixed and mobile broadband access penetration. We are focused on expanding our fiber optic access network and modernizing our current access network infrastructure in order to realize cost efficiencies and deliver new services. Under this program, we intend to continue replacing copper cable network with fiber optic cables and terminating legacy node service networks. We intend to continue laying out fiber optic cables which are able to serve multi-segment customers, including home and enterprise customers as well as the BTS network of Telkomsel and the network infrastructure of other operators. We believe that this may provide us with opportunities to expand our sources of revenue. In addition, we intend to continue improving the cross-operability of our and Telkomsel's broadband networks.
Fixed Wireline Network
As of December 31, 2020, we managed approximately 9.1 million fixed wireline (fixed voice) connections. The following table sets forth data related to our fixed wireline network as of the dates indicated.
Operating Statistics | | As of December 31, | |||||||||
|
| 2016 |
| 2017 |
| 2018 | | 2019 |
| 2020 |
|
Exchange capacity(1) |
| 15,738,803 |
| 13,253,971 | (3) | 13,829,115 | | 12,145,069 | | 11,447,618 | |
Installed lines(1) |
| 15,738,803 |
| 13,253,971 | (3) | 13,829,115 | | 12,145,069 | | 9,261,369 | |
Lines in service(2) |
| 10,663,000 |
| 10,957,118 | | 11,111,056 | | 9,368,744 | | 9,119,122 | |
Notes:
(1) | Exchange capacity and installed lines since December 31, 2015 include capacity and lines from TDM-based, softswitch and IMS technologies; consequently exchange capacity equals the number of installed lines. |
(2) | Lines in service are subscriber lines and public telephone lines, including the lines in service that we operate under revenue-sharing arrangements. |
(3) | Due to node modernization program, our TDM and softswitch customers were migrated to IMS, and we will not expand the exchange capacity and installed lines for those technologies anymore. |
Cellular Network
Our cellular services, which are operated by our subsidiary Telkomsel, provide the most extensive network coverage of any cellular operator in Indonesia. Telkomsel operates on the GSM/DCS, GPRS, EDGE, 3.5G, and 4G/LTE networks. Telkomsel has a wide spectrum with 15 MHz on the 800/900 MHz frequency, 22.5 MHz of contiguous spectrum on the 1.8 GHz frequency, 15 MHz of contiguous spectrum on the 2.1 GHz frequency and 30 MHz of contiguous spectrum on the 2.3 GHz frequency. All spectrum are already using a neutral technology which is able to accommodate GSM/DCS, 3G, and 4G network based on Telkomsel needs. The range of cellular services on the GSM network provided by Telkomsel extends to all cities and districts in Indonesia. In 2019, Telkomsel added approximately 23,162 BTS representing a 12.2% increase compared to 2018. In 2020, Telkomsel added approximately 18,937 BTS representing a 18,2% decrease compared to the previous year. As of December 31, 2020, Telkomsel's digital network was supported by 231,172 BTS (consisting of 107,523 4G/LTE BTS, 73,397 3G BTS and 50,252 2G BTS).
In October 2020, Telkomsel and Mitratel entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement for the sale of 6,050 telecommunications towers to Mitratel for Rp10.3 trillion. The transfer process was carried out gradually, starting with the transfer of 1,911 towers in October 2020 and 4,139 towers in February 2021. Telkomsel intends to focus on its main business as a digital telecommunications company and accelerate the pace of digitalization in Indonesia and expand opportunities for customers to transition to a digital lifestyle.
Data and Internet Network
In 2020, we continued to improve the quality of our data network by installing additional capacity and coverage. As of December 31, 2020, we provided broadband access using fiber optics to more than 30.1 million homes. As of December 31, 2020, our metro ethernet network expanded to 1,311,235 Mbps, which is able to provide broadband services throughout Indonesia. The metro ethernet is also used as the main link for IndiHome broadband services, softswitches and integrated multimedia subsystems ("IMS") related to voice services, video services, enterprise VPN services and GPON broadband services related to mobile backhaul and corporate business solutions.
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As of December 31, 2020, we have extended the capacity of our internet gateway to reach an installed capacity of 10,600 Gbps. This ensures the adequacy of the internet gateway capacity in anticipation of the expected growth for both fixed and mobile broadband traffic. In 2020, operated content delivery networks ("CDN") with an aggregate capacity of 10,546 Gbps in collaboration with Google, Facebook, Akamai, Edgecast, Level3, ChinaNet, Yahoo and Over The Top video content providers such as iFlix and Catchplay+.
As of December 31, 2020, we had 59 points of presence in 49 cities in Indonesia: including 12 main points of presence in Batam (at Batam Center and Bukit Dangas), Jakarta (at Jatinegara and Cikupa), Surabaya (at Rungkut and Kebalen), Manado (at Manado Centrum and Manado Paniki), Makasar (at Pettarani and Balaikota) and Banjarmasin (Banjarmasin and Ulin), and 47 primary and secondary points of presence throughout Indonesia. In 2020, we added three primary points of presence in Bali (Singaraja), Kalimantan (Samarinda) and Nusa Tenggara Barat (Bima).
Throughout 2020, we consistently deployed additional access points across Indonesia, while also choosing to dismantle certain access points which provided Wi-Fi services in locations where there was low utilization. Dismantled access points were redeployed in more suitable locations. As of December 31, 2020, a total of 386,856 access points has been installed (consisting of 146,053 managed access points and 240,803 home spots).
Data Center
As of December 31, 2020, we operated 26 data centers (21 local data centers and five international data centers). Telin operated five overseas data centers which consisted of three locations in Singapore (Telin-1, Telin-2, Telin-3) with a total capacity of 16,542 KWH, one location in Timor Leste (250 kVA) and one location in Hong Kong (500 kVA). In Indonesia, our 21 local data centers had an aggregate capacity of 4,389 racks (including 955 NeuCentrIX racks and 3,434 racks with a Tier 3 and Tier 4 specification), representing an increase by 16.0% in number of racks from 3,783 racks in 2019 (including 584 racks of NeuCentrIX and 3,199 racks with a Tier 3 and Tier 4 specification) and we had established and operated 18 NeuCentrIX data centers in Balikpapan, Bandung (at Lembong), Batam (at Bukit Dangas and Batam center), Jakarta (at Karet Tengsin, Jatinegara and Meruya), Yogyakarta, Makassar, Manado (at Paniki), Medan (at Centrum), Semarang (at Banyumanik, Candi), Surabaya (at Kebalen, Kaliasem and Gubeng), Banjarmasin (Banjarmasin Ulin), and Pekanbaru. Telkom Sigma also managed three data centers with a specification of Tier 3 and Tier 4 in Indonesia (at Serpong, Sentul, and Surabaya). In 2020, we further deployed our NeuCentrIX data center capacities and services which target enterprise and wholesale customers by offering digital hub experience under the NeuCentrIX umbrella brand, combining various connectivity services to facilitate and foster the digital businesses of our customers. These data centers provide carrier neutral connectivity and multiple custom-made services for enterprise clients throughout the Asia Pacific region. With the capabilities of this network, we are able to provide integrated data storage solutions to companies in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Timor Leste.
Transmission Network
In 2020, we focused on the reinforcement of our domestic backbone network reliability and continued developing our broadband network, which serves as the backbone for our entire network infrastructure. Our backbone telecommunications network consists of transmission networks, switching facilities and core routers, which connect multiple access nodes. The transmission links between nodes and switching facilities comprise a terrestrial transmission network, in particular fiber optic, microwave and submarine cable systems, as well as satellite transmission networks and other transmission technologies. During the COVID-19 outbreak, data traffic significantly increased due to the implementation of various measures for ensuring the health and safety of the public, such as teleworking and learning from home. We took preemptive steps to ensure the reliability of our network and limit congestion issues, in particular in urban areas. We did so by increasing our network capacity, prioritizing sensitive areas to ensure they would not suffer from disruptions (certain key state agencies or ministries for instance, and key backbone connection links within our network), allocating more resources to monitor our network, either from our integrated operation centers or by sending teams of technicians on the field for controlling the physical integrity of our systems and the existence of potential intrusions. We believe our pro-active approach has been successful in avoiding significant disruptions, slow data traffic and congestion, despite practical difficulties related to the implementation of certain restrictions on domestic travel and other measures we implemented to protect our workforce during the COVID-19 outbreak, such as social distancing, limitations on the number of staff working together in one location at any given time and shorter working hours.
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Communications Cable System
Our transmission network comprises 27 backbone rings in Indonesia with an aggregate capacity of 129,600 Gbps as of December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, we operated a fiber optic backbone network totaling 103,235 km domestically (compared to 100,069 km as at December 31, 2019). Our domestic fiber optic backbone network is supplemented by an international fiber optic backbone network totaling 64,700 km.
Throughout 2019, we worked to deploy several submarine cable systems in order to strengthen our fiber optic backbone. In the west of Indonesia, we have completed the deployment of the SLM (Sabang-Lhokseumawe-Medan), a submarine cable system which connects the Sabang-Lhokseumawe cable system and the Lhokseumawe-Medan cable system, with a total length of 632.12 km, while in the east of Indonesia we are deploying the PATARA (Papua Utara) submarine cable system which will connect Sentani and Sarmi with a total length of 283 km. In Kalimantan, we have completed the deployment of the MATANUSA (Mangkajang-Tawao-Nunukan-Sangatta) cable system with a total length 673 km. These three additional submarine cable systems (SLM, PATARA and MATANUSA) are fully operational. We continue to progress on the deployment of our fiber optic backbone in eastern Indonesia. We are progressing on the deployment of our PATARA-2 submarine cable which will connect Sarmi and Waisei, with a total length of 1,126 km. In Sulawesi, we are progressing on the deployment of the LUMORI (Luwuk-Morowali-Kendari) submarine cable which will connect Luwuk, Bonepute, Kolaka and Kendari, with a total length of 436 km. The deployment of LUMORI is expected to be ready for service by the second quarter of 2021, while PATARA-2 is expected to be ready for service by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. These two submarine cables will improve Telkom’s transportation network.
We also intend to leverage Indonesia's strategic geographic location and to provide an alternative direct broadband connection between Europe, Asia and America as we completed the deployment of the IGG cable system in 2020. The IGG cable system connects two major submarine cable systems, namely the South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5 (SEA-ME-WE 5) and, the Southeast Asia-United States (SEA-US) submarine cable systems. The IGG cable system also connects 12 major cities within Indonesia, including Batam, Jakarta, Surabaya and Manado, spanning a length of 5,403 km. This cable system increases our domestic traffic capacity and ability to offer broadband services. We completed the construction of this cable system in December 2018.
Satellites
In 2020, we operated three satellites, namely Telkom-2, Telkom-3S and Merah Putih satellite.
The Telkom-2 satellite operates at orbital slot 157 E and its design life ended in December 2020. The Telkom-2 satellite has a capacity of 24 standard C-band transponders (which is equivalent to an aggregate of 24.00 TPE) with coverage over Indonesia and South Asia. Following an assessment from its manufacturer, Telkom-2's operational life could be extended beyond December 2020 and we expect to operate this satellite until May 2021. Upon reaching the end of its design life, we had already migrated all critical traffic to other Telkom's resources and, since then, only non-critical traffic has been loaded onto Telkom-2. We have optimized our existing capacity to accommodate the traffic from Telkom-2 and we have already secured increased lease capacity from other satellites, should we need it.
The Telkom-3S satellite was launched in February 2017 and began operations in April 2017. We have located the Telkom-3S satellite at orbital slot 118 E. The Telkom-3S satellite has a capacity of 42 transponders (which is equivalent to an aggregate of 49.00 TPE) consisting of: (i) 24 standard C-band transponders; (ii) 8 extended C-band transponders; and (iii) 10 Ku-band transponders, which would have coverage over Indonesia.
In addition, we have launched the Merah Putih satellite in August 2018 as a replacement for the Telkom-1 satellite. It began commercial operations in September 2018, and has a capacity of 60 transponders (which is equivalent to an aggregate of 60.00 TPE) consisting of: (i) 24 standard C-band transponders which have coverage over South East Asia; (ii) 24 standard C-band transponders which would have coverage over South Asia; and (iii) 12 extended C-band transponders, which would have coverage over South East Asia. All of our satellites are controlled from a main control station in Cibinong, Bogor in West Java. To ensure the continuity of services, we operate a backup control station in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan.
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We also lease 52.38 TPE (transponder equivalent to 36 MHz) from the following satellites: Apstar-5C HTS (138 E) in the amount of 32.23 TPE, Apstar-9 (142 E) in the amount of 0.72 TPE, Chinasat-11 (98 E) in the amount of 1.97 TPE, Eutelsat 172B (172 E) in the amount of 2.0 TPE, JCSAT 4B (124 E) in the amount of 1.59 TPE, JCSAT 5A (132 E) in the amount of 1.79 TPE, Measat-3B (91.4 E) in the amount of 8.0 TPE, MySat (142 E) in the amount 0.21 TPE, Nusantara Satu (146 E) in the amount of 2.66 TPE, and other satellites in the aggregate amount of 1.22 TPE.
We plan to launch a High Throughput Satellite (HTS) by December 31, 2024. Such technology is suitable to serve satellite broadband subscribers, covering the C band and Ku band frequency bands in the 113 E slot orbit. If we are successful, we expect this new satellite will help Telkomsat achieve a leading position among regional satellite service providers.
International Networks
We continue to develop our international network infrastructure in order to support our international expansion strategy and vision to be the "King of Digital in the Region." We operate international gateways in Batam, Jakarta and Surabaya to route outgoing and incoming calls on our IDD service ("007" and "01017"). We also operate a voice gateway in Singapore and Hong Kong to offer voice services from or to any countries. As of December 31, 2020, we owned and operated an international fiber optic backbone network totaling 64,700 km.
We own global submarine cable infrastructure that connects Europe, Asia and America through submarine cable system such as the Thailand-Indonesia-Singapore (TIS), two routes of the Batam-Singapore Cable System (BSCS), Dumai-Malacca Cable System (DMCS), Asia-America Gateway (AAG), Southeast Asia-Japan Cable System (SJC), the South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5 (SEA-ME-WE 5) submarine cable system, and the Southeast Asia-United States (SEA-US). We also operate the IGG submarine cable system to connect major cities in Indonesia with Asia, Europe and USA. The IGG also provides direct and fast connection (or "express connection") to connect our existing submarine cable system of SEA-ME-WE 5 to SEA-US.
Moreover, we also operate and have rights of use for fiber optic infrastructure totaling 134,040 km in aggregate under a permanent telecommunication lease agreement, together with other global submarine cable operators/consortiums. This includes: 10,000 km submarine cable of the Japan-U.S. Cable Network (JUS), 9,620 km of the Unity/EAC-Pacific network, 11,629 km of the FASTER network, 2,700 km submarine cable of EAC-C2C network, 2,700 km submarine cable of APCN-2 network, 6,500 km submarine cable of the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) network, 7,000 km submarine cable of the Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE)/Cahaya Malaysia network, 2,700 km submarine cable of the TGN-Intra Asia (TGN-IA) network, 20,000 km submarine cable of the Southeast Asia - Middle East - Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE-4) network, 20,000 km submarine cable of the Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1) network, 8,100 km submarine cable of the Bay of Bengal Gateway (BBG) network, 12,091 km submarine cable of the Imewe network, 15,000 km submarine cable of the Europe India Gateway (EIG) network, and 6,000 km submarine cable of the Hibernia Transatlantic network. In 2020, we deployed 3,250 km of submarine cable with the Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2 (SJC2) consortium.
To support our international services for both voice and data, Telin operates 58 points of presence in various parts of the world, including 24 points of presence in Asia and the Middle East (nine points of presence in Indonesia used for supporting the international network, four points of presence in Singapore, four points of presence in Hong Kong, two points of presence in Kuala Lumpur, one point of presence in each of Dili, Tokyo, Taipei, Yangon and Dubai), 20 points of presence in Europe (one point of presence in each of London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Marseille, Paris, Stockholm, Luxemburg, Milan, Warsaw, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Madrid, Sofia, Vienna, Dublin, Bucharest, Prague, and Edinburgh, 14 points of presence in the United States and Canada (one point of presence in each of Montreal and Toronto, two points of presence in Los Angeles and one point of presence in each of Palo Alto, Ashburn, San Jose, New York, Guam, Hawaii, Seattle, Miami, San Francisco, and Atlanta)).
Geographic Distribution of Revenues
International expansion has become a necessity for us to be able to maintain a high and sustainable growth rate. We are developing and expanding our business outside of Indonesia to broaden and diversify our market. The following table sets forth the distribution of our revenues by geographic markets for the years indicated therein.
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| | Years Ended December 31, | ||||||
| | 2018 | | 2019 | | 2020 | ||
|
| (Rp billion) |
| (Rp billion) |
| (Rp billion) |
| (US$ million) |
External Revenues |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Indonesia |
| 127,442 |
| 130,979 |
| 130,082 |
| 9,259 |
Foreign Countries |
| 3,346 |
| 4,578 |
| 6,365 |
| 453 |
Total |
| 130,788 |
| 135,557 |
| 136,447 |
| 9,712 |
Overview of Telecommunications Services Rates
Under the Telecommunications Law and Government Regulation No.52/2000, tariffs for operating telecommunications network and/or services are determined by providers based on the tariff type, structure and with respect to the price cap formula set by the Government.
a. Fixed line telephone tariffs
Under MoCI Regulation No.15/2008, the tariff structure for basic telephony services connected through fixed line network comprised the following fees:
● activation fee;
● monthly subscription charges;
● usage charges; and
● additional facilities fee.
b. Mobile cellular telephone tariffs
On April 7, 2008, the MoCI issued Regulation No.09/PER/M.KOMINFO/04/2008, (on mechanism to determine tariffs of telecommunications services connected through mobile cellular network) ("MoCI Regulation No.9/2008") which provides guidelines to determine cellular tariffs with a formula consisting of network element cost and retail services activity cost. Under MoCI Regulation No.9/2008, cellular tariffs for the operation of telecommunications services connected through mobile cellular network consist of the following:
● basic telephony services tariff;
● roaming tariff; and/or
● multimedia services tariff
with the following traffic structure:
● activation fee;
● monthly subscription charges;
● usage charges; and
● additional facilities fee.
c. Interconnection tariffs
Based on letter No.118/KOMINFO/DJPPI/PI.02.04/01/2014 of the DGPI, the DGPI required our Company and Telkomsel to submit Reference Interconnection Offer ("RIO") proposals to the Indonesian Telecommunication Regulatory Body ("ITRB") for evaluation on an annual basis. Subsequently, the ITRB in its letters No.60/BRTI/III/2014 and No.125/BRTI/IV/2014 approved our Company's and Telkomsel's RIO revisions and approved an SMS interconnection tariff at Rp24 per SMS. On January 18, 2017, ITRB in its letters No.20/BRTI/DPI/I/2017 and No.21/BRTI/DPI/I/2017, decided to use the interconnection tariff based on the Company and Telkomsel's RIO in 2014 until the new interconnection tariff is set.
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d. Network lease tariffs
Through MoCI Regulation No.03/PER/M.KOMINFO/1/2007 on Network Lease ("MoCI Regulation No.03/2007"), the Government regulated the form, type, tariff structure and tariff formula for services related to network leases. Pursuant to MoCI Regulation No.03/2007, the Director General of Post and Telecommunication issued Decree No.115 of 2008 which stated its agreement on Agreement on Network Lease Service Type Document, Network Lease Service Tariff, Available Capacity of Network Lease Service, Quality of Network Lease Service, and Provision Procedure of Network Lease Service in 2008 Owned by Dominant Network Lease Service Provider in conformity with the Company's proposal.
e. Tariffs for other services
The tariffs for satellite lease, telephony services, and other multimedia are determined by the service provider by taking into account the expenditures and market price. The Government only determines the tariff formula for basic telephony services. There is no stipulation for the tariff of other services.
Marketing, Sales and Distribution
We have implemented a comprehensive marketing and promotional strategy to bolster our brand and to increase sales, including through digital marketing and the development of our product and service distribution channels. To increase sales, we also use above and below the line marketing channels to promote our services to certain parties and communities. We also continue to place advertisement in printed and electronic media and implement marketing methods such as point of sales broadcasting as well as promotion and sponsorship events.
We continue to implement our marketing and promotional strategy as well as our customer services to be in line with the characteristics of our businesses, products and services, as well as customers' preferences. The following provides a description of our marketing and promotional strategies per customer segment.
Mobile Customers
For our mobile customer segment, in 2020 we focused our marketing strategy on targeting specific customer segments and personalizing offerings delivered through digital channels for efficient implementation. Telkomsel focused on finding the right balance between market share growth, revenue mix and profitability. It launched initiatives to increase its offering of premium products that usually carry higher prices and ensure its products meet customers' needs and expectations. Telkomsel also focused on improving payload growth and acquiring new data users while continuing to support legacy product usage. To stimulate higher data and digital products usage, Telkomsel continued partnering with several parties to enrich contents available from existing platforms and continued to offer its "more for more" program whereby customers who subscribe for more expensive data packages get attractive add-ons and features, which we expect will ultimately drive value creation and maintain stable ARPU, especially in challenging circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, we launched our Ketengan (small batches) package for users who want to opt for data service for use of specific applications and our unlimited package to leverage our strong network capability and taking into consideration our customers' needs in a challenging macro-economic environment in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, provide valuable products and services for improving customer engagement and loyalty. Our efforts to maintain stable ARPU include providing digital lifestyle and digital payment services which we provide as mobile-based digital life services.
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In 2020, we continued to introduce new products and to revamp our mobile package options in order to appeal to our various groups of customers. We continued offering our prepaid service by.U that we launched in 2019. This service bundle targets young users and offers a "customer-centric" experience to customers as they are free to choose from a wide variety of services. To strengthen the positioning of our MAXStream video platform in the video streaming industry, we partner with video content providers to enrich our content available from our video streaming platform. In 2019, we published our second video game, Lord of Estera, which is available from Telkomsel and Langit Musik, a streaming service. In 2020, we published three new games: Rise of Nowlin, Kolak Express 3 and Three Kingdoms: Quest of Infinity, all available on Telkomsel Dunia Games. Telkomsel also enriched its contents and services to improve its customers' experience, for instance with greater access to Langit Musik and a choice of numerous ring back tones. We also increased opportunities for customers to use LinkAja, including extending the ability to use LinkAja to non-subscribers and collaborating with additional partners such as taxi services, petrol stations and food and beverage operators for the use of LinkAja as payment. In 2020, Telkomsel also made an investment in Gojek, a leading on-demand and payment platform in Southeast Asia to deepen the collaboration between the two companies for accelerating the transition of Indonesia towards digitalization. As of December 31, 2020, we had 169.5 million cellular subscribers, comprising 163.0 million prepaid subscribers and 6.5 million postpaid subscribers and 115.9 million mobile broadband customers.
Consumer Customers
In 2020, IndiHome was our main product targeting the consumer customer market. Since 2019, our consumer segment has been focusing on apartment and premium customers, who used to fall under our enterprise unit, in addition to its traditional purely residential customer base. In 2020, we enhanced our services offered to this wider customer base in terms of quality and dispatching technicians on-site to improve our customers' experience (this service being available only in certain locations as at the date hereof). We have also developed a multi-retail service provider partnership model for our consumer customers who have built their own fiber infrastructure in apartment complexes or condominiums, for instance. This partnership model allows us to offer ICT management services to premium customers and that we can provide IndiHome services using the fiber infrastructure installed and operated by such multi-retail service providers.
With various marketing strategies, from discount to value innovation, we are able to offer products which we believe offer attractive value. We offer these products through various sales channels, including digital channels and carry out campaigns and year-round promotions, especially during festive campaigns. Our promotions and campaigns included the following in 2020:
● Wujudkan Rumah Ceria 2020 campaign: IndiHome's campaign to celebrate the New Year of 2020. IndiHome carried out a series of promotional activities such as giving a 10%-discount to customers subscribing for the minipack IndiKorea, Dynasty 2 and IndiJapan minipacks, along with lucky draws.
● Berkah Dari Rumah campaign: IndiHome's campaign to celebrate the month of Ramadan and support the people working, studying or carrying out other activities from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak. IndiHome carried out in numerous promotional activities such as giving a 20%-discount for customers who upgrade their internet speed, free access to certain contents for one month (“30 Menit Bisa Membaca Al-Quran”), and lucky draws.
● Semangat Kemerdekaan campaign: IndiHome’s campaign to celebrate Indonesia's Independence Day. IndiHome gave various discounts such as a 17%-discount for 8 minipacks and LinkAja balance top-ups. Customers also had an opportunity to participate in lucky draws.
In 2020, our sales strategy focused on implementing a dynamic pricing of our products and services allowing our selling prices to better reflect local conditions in different areas of Indonesia, while providing our customers with superior bundled products and faster and enhanced services. We also continued our points program (initiated in 2019) for our salespeople to incentivize greater sales activity on weekends and holidays and improve convenience to our customers.
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We also intensified our efforts to provide tailored service to customers by using customer profiles created through the compilation of customer data to personalize services and offer products which may be attractive to customers based on their profile. We also rely on an end-to-end traceable customer relationship management process, which allows us to identify and rectify problems as they happen, rather than waiting for customers to alert us to such issues. In doing so, we proactively solve problems before customers are inconvenienced.
As of December 31, 2020, we had 9.1 million fixed wireline subscribers along with 8.0 million fixed broadband IndiHome subscribers.
Enterprise Customers
For our enterprise customers, we have been implementing a marketing strategy to attract high-end market enterprise customers using strategic key account management with the aim of improving our relationship with customers through a cooperative process in designing services customized for strategic accounts. We also have a transformative digital marketing strategy which comprises: (i) a governmental initiative that seeks to foster the use of digital technologies, under which we aim to become the Government's strategic ICT partner by collaborating with the Government on strategic ICT mega-deals that focus on the digital customer experience; (ii) an end-to-end digital ecosystem initiative that synergistically leverages our capabilities for targeted companies, under which we market end-to-end digital ICT solutions to our enterprise customers which provide customized and reliable solutions for each of our customers, and (iii) the build-the-nation digital SME initiative, under which we market basic ICT solutions for connectivity services and solution-oriented packages to SMEs in Indonesia through the optimization of a domestically-developed digital ecosystem, useful applications and content, and SME customer experience.
In 2020, our sales strategy comprised providing access to: (i) Account Managers for the large enterprise segment (the Account Manager is meant to serve as a single point of interaction to provide end-to-end service to customers, from initiation of the relationship to after-sales services) by leveraging end-to-end digitalization with an application-based process, (ii) Government Relationship Officers for the Government, agencies and other similar customers to manage a close relationship with such customers for the whole year and increasing the quality of our services to encourage contract renewal, and (iii) Business Account Managers for medium-sized SME customers, and Tele Account Management (TAM) for the small-sized and micro SME segment served by a value-added reseller method supplemented by a reliable digital channel and advanced mobile applications, which provide additional products or services with the purchase of an initial or qualifying item.
Wholesale and International Business Customers
Our wholesale and international business customers are mainly domestic other license operators (OLO's), service providers, digital player, global wholesaler and carrier, and enterprises that are related to our product or services such as international data center or international connectivity (IPLC) besides retail customers in our international operation of mobile network operator (MNO) and mobile virtual network operator (MVNO).
For our wholesale and international business customers, we focus on: (i) offering attractive business schemes for our voice traffic portfolio to leverage such benefits to increase retail traffic, through the bundling of voice traffic products at competitive prices that are compatible with the quality of the service offered; (ii) improving services, such as quality and coverage, for international data center and connectivity customers; (iii) offering an end-to-end tower solution to customers both for core tower services such as "built to suit" (a tower rental service tailored to the preferred location and specifications of the first tenant or anchor tenant for the relevant tower), co-location and adjacent tower services such as site maintenance, and other related services; and (iv) exploring our regional market by providing submarine cable laying and maintenance services.
We also provide customer service management for wholesale and international customers through account managers, digital touch points, and 24-hour customer care support. We keep developing the capability and competency of our account management team to improve our capability to deliver excellent service and strong engagement with our customers. To get a better understanding of our customers' needs and feedback, we conduct surveys periodically through digital touch points and interviews, and their outcome generally result in new improvement programs.
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Digital Service Customers
For our digital service customers, our marketing strategy focuses on strengthening and improving digital innovation, including by:
● enriching digital content;
● creating digital services with unique features;
● improving brand, platform, operational, and customer experiences;
● building digital business models to support Indonesia's digital economics;
● leveraging our assets and inventory to obtain increasing insight into digital services and customer experience; and
● growing the portfolio of our digital business through investment in digital startups in order to be a part of Indonesia's digital ecosystem.
We tailor our sales strategy to each particular digital business and our digital customers' needs. We offer customer care and channel management, including through contact centers, dedicated account management for large enterprises, websites, and social media.
Our digital service customers program focuses on leveraging IndiHome services, for instance by promoting the MyIndiHomeX application as a digital touch point for IndiHome’s customers and the Indibox as the source of value-added services (such as video contents, games, and other Google applications). GameQoo is a cloud gaming service and an add-on benefit to the IndiHome services. IndiHome Smart is an IoT home service that provides IndiHome users with consumer digital services.
Distribution Channels
The following are our primary distribution channels for our products and services:
● Face-to-face customer service points include walk-in customer service points and mobile units, where customers have access to the full range of Telkom and Telkomsel's products and services, including billing, payment, subscription cancellation, promotion and complaint handling. Plasa Telkom outlets generally provide access to Telkom products and services and GraPARI centers generally provide access to Telkomsel products and services. In recent years, we have been introducing Telkomsel products at certain Plasa Telkom outlets and have established nine digital GraPARI outlets as of December 31, 2020, which offer both Telkom and Telkomsel products. As of December 31, 2020, we managed 383 Plasa Telkom outlets and 403 GraPARI centers in Indonesia, 19 international GraPARI centers (one in Hong Kong, three in Taiwan, and 15 in Timor Leste) and nine GraPARI Telkom Group centers, which provide the most comprehensive services for both retail and corporate customers of Telkom and Telkomsel. Several of our GraPARI centers operate on a 24-hour basis. As of December 31, 2020, we also operated 365 GraPARI mobile units and 896 IndiHome sales car units which are sales points located in vehicles which can travel to reach customers across the country.
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● Authorized dealers, retail outlets and modern channels are distribution outlets for Telkomsel products such as starterpacks, prepaid SIM cards and top-up vouchers. We operate an extensive network of authorized dealers and retail outlets across Indonesia. These dealers are non-exclusive, and they receive a discount on all of the products they receive. In 2020, we noticed a shift from traditional channels to modern channels due to the changing behaviors of consumers during the COVID-19 outbreak. More consumers sought to avoid or limit physical interactions or had to do so to comply with social distancing measures and guidelines. In doing this, they preferred transacting online, using the internet of dedicated mobile applications rather than transacting in traditional outlets. Digitalization and the implementation of digital and transformative strategies by various private companies and public institutions and agencies facilitates the increase in transaction volumes through modern channels, hence the rapid development of e-commerce, the fintech sector, e-money, and delivery services. Telkomsel has been monitoring those changes to adapt and redefine the key performance indicators it uses for rewarding partners and to assist them in optimizing their business models to increase sales.
● Partnership Stores are extensions of our distribution channels, in cooperation with a variety of third party marketing outlets such as computer or electronic stores, banks through their ATM networks and others.
● Contact centers are call centers that support our customers' ability to access certain of our products and services, including making billing enquiries, submitting complaints and accessing certain promotions and service features. We operate 24-hour contact center facilities in Semarang, Bandung and Malang (Indonesia).
● Account Management Teams are teams that manage relationships and account portfolios of large enterprises, Government agencies, medium-scale businesses and wholesale customers.
● Sales Specialists have deep product and technical knowledge in order to provide appropriate and effective recommendations and solutions to corporate customers who work together with our Account Managers.
● Channel Partners serve as value added resellers that conduct sales and marketing activities to our enterprise customers to seek their specific requirements and to our retail customers to offer retail packages. We also engage third parties to conduct sales activities for retail customers at certain events.
● Digital Touch Points are web and mobile application-based services which we provide to our IndiHome subscribers and corporate customers. We operate myIndiHome, a self-care mobile application-based service for IndiHome customers, which allows customers to register new subscriptions, manage payments and billing, report and monitor network problems, access video-on-demand services and manage customer reward programs. Telkomsel also offers MyTelkomsel, which is a self-care mobile application-based service for Telkomsel subscribers which provides information on services, allows purchase of packages and products as well as account management. For enterprise customers, we offer My Telkom Digital Solution (MyTDS), user-centric digital touch points that digitize and simplify business processes to increase our productivity and performance in providing services to our customers. MyTDS also enhances user experience for our Corporate Customers. Users interact with us on mobile applications and web platform. Users of MyTDS will soon be given access to our product catalog, generate a digital quotation, track delivery tickets, and allow customers to ask for support as they can report service disruptions using MyTDS to generate release tickets which create a record of the disruptions.
● Websites, we operate www.telkom.co.id, www.telkomsel.com and www.telin.net, which enable our customers to access certain of our products and services. Available services include e-Billing, registration, collective billing registration and submission of complaints.
● Social Media, we use social media, primarily Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, to enable customers to interact with us regarding our products and services.
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● LinkAja Wallet, a digital wallet application which allows customers to buy data or voice services, pay bills or buy products with LinkAja.
Licensing
To provide national telecommunications services, we have a number of product and service licenses that are consistent with applicable laws, regulations or decrees.
We have secured licenses that have been adjusted as required, which are as follows:
Cellular
Telkomsel holds licenses to operate a nationwide mobile cellular telephone network using 15 MHz of spectrum allocation in the 800/900 MHz frequency, 22.5 MHz of spectrum allocation in the 1.8 GHz frequency, 15 MHz of spectrum allocation in the 2.1 GHz frequency, and 30 MHz additional spectrum in the 2.3 GHz frequency, in each case won at an auction in October 2017. The licenses do not have a set expiry date, but will be evaluated every ten years. In addition, Telkomsel holds permits and licenses from and registrations with certain regional governments and/or government agencies, primarily in connection with its operations in such regions, the properties it owns and/or the construction and use of its BTSs.
Fixed Network and Basic Telephony Services
We have the following licenses to operate local fixed network, fixed DLD network, fixed international call and fixed closed network:
● MoCI Decree No.839 of 2016 (on license to operate fixed DLD network);
● MoCI Decree No.844 of 2016 (on license to operate fixed closed network) ("MoCI Decree No.844/2016");
● MoCI Decree No.846 of 2016 (on license to operate fixed international network) ("MoCI Decree No.846/2016"); and
● MoCI Decree No.948 of 2016 (on license to operate circuit switched based local fixed line network).
These licenses do not have a set expiry date, but will be evaluated every five years.
International Calls
We have a license to operate a fixed network to provide international call services pursuant to MoCI Decree No.846/2016.
We have a license to operate a fixed closed network pursuant to MoCI Decree No.844/2016. This license allows us to lease installed fixed closed network to, among others, telecommunications network and service operators, and to provide an international telecommunications transmission facility through a SCCS directly to Indonesia for overseas telecommunications operators.
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According to MoCI Regulation No.16/PER/M.KOMINFO/9/2005 (on the provision of international telecommunications transmission facilities through SCCS) ("MoCI Regulation No.16/2005"), overseas telecommunications operators wishing to provide international telecommunications facilities through the SCCS directly to Indonesia are required to set up a partnership with a fixed network of international call services or closed fixed network provider. In line with MoCI Regulation No.16/2005, the international telecommunications transmission facilities provided through SCCS are served by us on the basis of landing rights attached to our license to operate fixed network of international call services. We have also secured landing rights based on the landing right Letter No.006-OS/DJPT.6/HLS/3/2010 from the MoCI.
The DGPI Decree No.93 of 2016 (on limited fixed network license) granted our subsidiary, Telin, a license to operate a fixed closed line network which enables Telin to provide international infrastructure services. Separately, Telin secured landing rights in Indonesia from the DGPI to provide international telecommunications transmission facilities through the Submarine Cable System ("SCS").
The foregoing licenses do not have a set expiry date, but they will be evaluated every five years.
VoIP
We are licensed to provide internet telephony services for public utilization for commercial use as provided under DGPI Decree No.127 of 2016 (on internet telephony services for public utilization). Telkomsel is also licensed to provide public VoIP services based on DGPI Decree No.65 of 2015 (internet telephony services for public utilization). These licenses do not have a set expiry date, but they will be evaluated every five years.
ISP
We are licensed as an ISP under MoCI Decree No.2176 of 2016 (on internet access services). Telkomsel is also licensed to provide multimedia internet access services with nation-wide coverage under DGPI Decree No.19 of 2016 (on internet access services). These licenses do not have a set expiry date, but they will be evaluated every five years.
Internet Interconnection Service
We hold a license to provide internet interconnection services pursuant to MoCI Decree No.1004 of 2018 (on internet interconnection service (network access point)). This license does not have a set expiry date, but it will be evaluated every five years.
Data Communication System ("SISKOMDAT")
We have a license to provide data communication system services pursuant to DGPI Decree No.191 of 2016 (on data communication system services). This license does not have a set expiry date, but it will be evaluated every five years.
Following the implementation of Bank Indonesia's regulations applicable to APMK and e-Money businesses since 2009, Bank Indonesia confirmed our status as an issuer of e-Money in 2018. We operate our e-Money business under the brand name "t-money". We, through Telkomsel, also operate our e-Money business under the brand name "LinkAja" (formerly known as "T-CASH"). With the issuance of Bank Indonesia Circular Letter No.9/9/DASP, Telkomsel is also permitted to conduct APMK activities and offers Tunai prepaid cards. These permits do not have a set expiry date so long as: (i) we and Telkomsel continue to conduct the relevant businesses ain compliance with applicable regulations; and (ii) the Government does not amend or revoke such permits.
In 2020, e-Money services available to our customers through LinkAja have expanded to include electronic toll payments, certain tax payments and the ability to settle certain transactions for Gojek users.
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Remittance Service
We and Telkomsel have licenses to operate as money transfer services providers pursuant to Bank Indonesia letters No.11/23/Bd/8 of 2009 and No.12/48/DASP/13 of 2009. These permits do not have a set expiry date or a period of adjustment as long: (i) as we and Telkomsel continue to conduct the relevant businesses; (ii) we do not violate any applicable regulation; and (iii) the Government does not amend or revoke such permits.
IPTV
On April 27, 2011, we and PT Indonusa Telemedia, formerly known as TelkomVision ("Indonusa") as a consortium obtained a license to operate IPTV services. We sought a new license so that Telkom, as an individual operator, can hold an IPTV Telecommunication Service Operation License, so that we may offer a wider range of multimedia services. We obtained such license on February 25, 2021, when Telkom was granted a license to operate telecommunication services.
Construction Services Business License ("IUJK")
Certain of our subsidiaries possess an IUJK (which permits us to conduct national telecommunication-related construction services), which allows us to conduct our construction services business, including the installation of telecommunications equipment and for the wiring of buildings. In January 2021, we obtained a new IUJK which will be effective once we have completed the required environmental impact analysis (AMDAL) or environmental evaluation document. Until this analysis or document is completed, construction works requiring a IUJK are carried out by our subsidiaries which possess their own effective IUJK.
Content Provider Services
We obtained a content provider services license in 2017 through MoCI Decree No. 1040 of 2017 dated May 16, 2017. Such license has no set expiry date but MoCI re-evaluates the content services licenses every five years.
Trademarks, Copyrights and Patents
We constantly seek to develop product and service innovations in line with a dynamic business portfolio. To provide both protection for and recognition of creativity and innovation, we have registered a number of intellectual property rights, including trademarks, copyrights, and patents with the Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
The intellectual property rights we have registered include: (i) trademarks for our products and services, corporate logo and name; (ii) copyrights on our corporate name and logo, product and service logos, computer programs, research, books and songs; and (iii) single patents (generally valid for 10 years from the date of receipt of the single patent submission) and patents (generally valid for 20 years from the date of receipt of the single patent submission) on technological inventions in the form of telecommunications products, systems and methods.
Corporate and Social Responsibility
We work towards creating a sustainable business and more broadly a sustainable society. Therefore, we have launched a number of initiatives relating to technology and digitalization, the protection of data and information, customer engagement, the development of talents and the promotion of a strong corporate culture that values sustainability. See also "— Business Overview — Strategy" above.
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We monitor and strive to minimize the environmental impact of our operations by promoting efficient uses of energy, increasing the use of renewable energy, water management and an eco-friendly corporate culture. For example, we are using equipment that helps us minimize our electricity consumption in our office buildings, such as LED lamps, reflective glass (to reduce incoming heat and the use of air conditioning), cooling system management, zoning lighting systems, capacitor banks to optimize electricity consumption, automatic devices to schedule time periods during which certain equipment do not need to operate (and consume electricity), and we also plan to install rooftop solar panels to increase our use of renewable energy in our office buildings. We have also implemented similar measures on our fixed network (for instance for optimizing the use of air conditioning in rooms which require fresh air to cool down certain equipment, using newer devices to decrease energy consumption, or increasing the use of renewable energy thanks to the installation of solar panels). We have also installed automatic water taps in most of our office buildings and use water from air conditioner condensation for reducing our water consumption. We have also implemented policies to incentivize our employees to use online dissemination of information (as opposed to hard copies), virtual meetings and other digital processes in an effort to decrease our paper consumption. Our subsidiary Telkomsel also incentivize customers to choose paperless bills.
We also invest in our employees and more broadly in digital talents within and outside the Telkom Group. We believe in an inclusive workplace and equal access to training and career opportunities, which helps us to recruit, motivate and further develop talented employees who can serve our customers with professionalism wherever we operate. We are committed to implementing labor practices based on international business norms and regulations. We support and respect human rights, gender equality and non-discriminatory social and corporate practices. We have female employees at all levels of our organization, including managerial positions, and we follow the principle of equal pay for equal work. We also support the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower's and the International Labor Organization's initiatives towards a child-labor-free Indonesia. A decent and safe workplace is one of the key factors that affect employee performance. Therefore, we strive to create a conducive work atmosphere by providing the latest digital-based work facilities that allow employees to be mobile and collaborate optimally. Employee workspaces are equipped with various facilities to make it easier to work and interact with others comfortably and safely. Our Occupational Health, Safety, and Environment Management System is designed to reduce the risk of work accidents.
As regards confidential and personal data protection, since 2014, our Cyber Security Operation Center has been operating with teams working twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to protect confidential data and information from misappropriation and misuse by anticipating and promptly responding to cyber-attacks and other security threats. Effective information sharing among teams and departments are key to the prompt monitoring and detection of such threats, effective incident response management, vulnerability assessments and instilling cyber-security awareness among all employees and partners. We also have internal policies, procedures and guidelines in place to increase cyber-security awareness among our employees, for instance on the use of strong passwords for accessing their corporate account or accounts and internal databases, restricted information and data or applications, enabling multi-factor authentication features where available, and regularly updating our employees on existing or past cyber-attacks, best practices (such as how to handle phishing emails). Our IT risk management system is periodically reviewed and certified by an independent consultant and we conduct security checks on our IT infrastructure on a daily basis. We organize training sessions and programs focusing on cyber-security for our employees which allow our employees to obtain various levels of certifications which further allows us to efficiently organize our response in case of cyber-attacks or if a vulnerability has been identified in our systems by mobilizing our employees with the most relevant skill set. Our senior management is involved in formulating our cyber-security strategy, related policies and overseeing their implementation.
We also engage with the communities in which we operate through various partnership programs and initiatives, such as our "internet for education" program and sociodigipreneurship incubation program. Consistent with the Government's initiatives to continue infrastructure development (including through investments in internet networks) in rural areas, we provide free internet access to communities located in areas with weak or deficient internet access, often located in rural areas and less developed provinces of Indonesia. Our "internet for education" program focuses on providing internet access, Wi-Fi devices and computers to such communities so that to allow them to learn online. Our sociodigipreneurship incubation program seeks to foster talents (including in vocational schools, other students and employees) and help them develop entrepreneurship, innovation in the digital space, and more particularly find solutions to social issues using digital tools and digitalization.
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For 2020, we invested approximately Rp397.1 billion in such social responsibility and partnership programs throughout Indonesia. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have also sourced and distributed personal protective equipment and medical devices (free of charge) in various communities.
As another example of our corporate culture, in support of the Government's programs and initiatives to contain the spread and alleviate the consequences of COVID-19, all our Directors and Commissioners donated their religious holiday allowance (Tunjangan Hari Raya) in 2020.
The Telecommunications Industry in Indonesia
The Indonesian economy recorded a GDP contraction of 2.07% in 2020 (computed at constant market prices, based on preliminary results available as at February 2021), according to the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics, mainly due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. GDP attributable to the information and communication sector, however, increased by 10.58% in 2020. This growth demonstrates changes in behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, as companies, agencies and individuals increased their demand for information and communication services, in particular as more and more people worked or studied from home.
Indonesia's telecommunications industry has been experiencing advancement in recent years, primarily driven by growth in fixed and mobile broadband subscriptions. The main drivers behind the growth are increased data usage with greater affordability, service improvement and smartphone penetration. The shifting trend from legacy services (such as voice and SMS) to data services has been continuing, supported by cheaper smartphones as well as a growing youth segment. Data traffic has grown, however, SMS and voice service traffic has decreased significantly. Over The Top applications have become part of Indonesian life (including voice and video calls) as due to advances in such applications, they are now easier to use and offer improved quality of service. As a result, customers have replaced the usage of legacy SMS and voice services with Over The Top applications, which has resulted in a steeper decline of the legacy business. The rise of the digital economy has been embraced by Indonesian people across the socioeconomic spectrum, which continues to cause profound changes in economic activities. The pace of such changes has increased in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures implemented by the Government and private sector players.
The telecommunications industry, especially the mobile segment, has been characterized by increased competition in recent years, particularly as operators have been offering promotions which include bonus data allowances in order to attract new customers. Customers have become sensitive to data pricing, which has led to lower margins for telecommunications operators. The ensuing heightened price competition for data services in Indonesia during the first half of 2019 brought significant adverse financial consequences for telecommunications operators, leading to a subtle decline of pricing for a more reasonable level by the end of 2019. This decline in prices, in particular for mobile data services, continued in 2020.
Based on our internal calculation and publicly available data, the penetration of SIM cards in the cellular industry in Indonesia is quite high, is excess of 100%, making continued growth in penetration increasingly limited. There were approximately 356.6 million cellular subscribers in Indonesia as of December 31, 2020, representing a 4.6% increase from approximately 341.1 million cellular subscribers as of December 31, 2019. By subscriber numbers, based on publicly available data disclosed by market players and our own internal data, the three largest cellular operators in Indonesia are Telkomsel, Indosat and XL Axiata, which collectively accounted for more than 95% of the market share based on the estimated number of total subscribers as of December 31, 2020. The SIM card registration requirements that ended March 31, 2018 resulted in a significant decrease in the number of mobile subscribers at the end of 2018 of 21.8%, leading to a small growth in the number of subscribers in 2019. The impact of such registration requirements on the number of subscribers faded in 2020. The number of subscribers slightly increased in 2020. As of December 31, 2020, Telkomsel remained the largest cellular provider in Indonesia, with 169.5 million cellular subscribers, which represented a 0.9% decrease in the number of cellular subscribers from December 31, 2019. This slight decrease was primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic which had a negative impact on the overall Indonesian economy and individuals' purchasing power. In addition, we were and are still subject to intense competition in our industry.
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Data consumption in the mobile segment continued to increase, and it is expected that the consumption level per user will continue to grow from the current average data consumption per user. Such growth in data consumption will require significant capital expenditure in order to provide the necessary increase in capacity and coverage to accommodate such growth. The MoCI has publicly announced a restructuring plan for spectrum allocation among telecommunication operators to facilitate the transition from 3G and 4G to 5G. The scheduled migration from analog TV to digital TV will free up a 112 MHz bandwidth in the 700 MHz spectrum which is suitable for use of 5G in 2022. This additional spectrum available for re-allocation and other spectrum available as a result of the restructuring plan, once completed, will empower MNOs to strengthen and maximize the quality of 4G LTE and develop their offering of 5G services to their respective customers, especially in areas where data service capacity is dense. Wider spectrum bandwidth allows more efficient signal transmission for better coverage with fewer transmitters. Moreover, it also enables MNOs to provide higher speed and capacity to deliver a better digital lifestyle experience to all Indonesians.
Data is the main revenue driver for telecommunications companies, with significant increases in traffic volumes projected for the near future, driven primarily by streaming of HD/Ultra HD video, video on demand, gaming and an increase in network-connected devices that need fixed and mobile connections. To support the expected increase in traffic, telecommunications companies will need to invest in rollout of additional BTS and will thus require supplemental tower infrastructure, either in the form of macro or micro towers. Data traffic growth will be supported by 4G technology and telecommunications companies have begun deploying 4G BTS throughout Indonesia. Telecommunications companies have widespread 3G/4G coverage across Java and adjacent islands, where they typically build a wide thin layer of coverage and then invest in capacity to meet demand as subscriber adoption and usage increases. As a result of lower margins for telecommunications companies caused by the shift in focus to data business from legacy services, cost savings have become imperative, and as a result tower lease rates have come under pressure from telecommunications companies requesting lower lease rates.
The demand for fixed broadband services in Indonesia continued to increase in 2020, especially in large cities, marked by an increase in total broadband subscribers, despite the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such increase in demand was primarily due to an increase in consumption driven by home entertainment that accelerated as a result of containment measures implemented in connection with the COVID-19 outbreak (such as working from home and school/studying from home). Indonesian users increasingly expect high-quality internet connectivity to their homes as evidenced by the level of investment made by the Government and private enterprises for the development of fiber optic networks. Currently, the national fixed broadband market is still dominated by a limited number of companies. We and First Media are the leading companies in the fixed broadband industry, followed by PT Link Net Tbk ("Link Net"), PT Supra Primatama Nusantara ("BizNet Networks"), PT MNC Kabel Mediacom ("MNC Vision") and PT Eka Mas Republik (an affiliate of Smartfren Telecom which operates under the "MyRepublic" brand), based on the number of subscribers and our internal estimates and information published by these companies. Given that obtaining licenses and "right of way" access to lay cables from local municipal governments remains time-consuming in Indonesia, barriers to entry in the market remain high. As of December 31, 2020, we had more than 8.0 million fixed broadband subscribers. However, given the low penetration of fixed broadband services in Indonesia, smaller players are aggressively expanding their coverage regions with intention of having an impact in selected targeted regions. In order to entice new subscribers, other operators have been offering pay-TV and TV-on-demand bundles, as well as packages with other value added services to further monetize their active subscribers. These offerings include services such as home security and smart home.
Competition
Business Competition Law
The Indonesian telecommunications sector is regulated by the Telecommunications Law, which became effective on September 8, 2000. The Telecommunications Law sets guidelines for industry reforms, including industry liberalization, to facilitate the entry of new operators as well as to increase transparency and competition. The Telecommunications Law abolished the concept of "organizing entities" in the industry, which terminated the special status of Telkom and Indosat as the organizing bodies responsible for coordinating telecommunications services domestically and internationally. In order to increase competition, the Telecommunications Law prohibits monopolistic practices and unfair competition among fellow telecommunications operators.
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The Telecommunications Law is implemented through various Government regulations and ministerial regulations, including Government Regulation No.52/2000, MoCI Regulation No.1/PER/M.KOMINFO/01/2010 (on provision of telecommunications networks), as lastly amended by MoCI Regulation No.7 of 2015 on Implementation of Telecommunication Network and MoCI Regulation No.7 of 2018 on Electronic Integrated Business Licensing Services in the Sector of Communications and Informatics, and amended further by MoCI Regulation No. 7 of 2019 ("MoCI Regulation No.7/2018, as amended") ("MoCI Regulation No.1/2010, as amended"), Decree of the Minister of Transportation No.KM33 of 2004 (on monitoring of fair competition of the fixed network and basic telephone service operations) ("Minister of Transportation Decree No.33/2004") and Decree of the Minister of Transportation No.KM.4 of 2001 (on the national basic technical plan 2000 for the national telecommunications development) ("National Technical Telecommunications Plan"). The National Technical Telecommunications Plan has been amended several times, most recently by MoCI Regulation No.14 of 2018 on Fundamental Technical Plan of National Telecommunications Plan ("MoCI Regulation No.14/2018"). Along with the Telecommunications Law, the National Technical Telecommunications Plan determines the basic vision for the development of Indonesia's telecommunications regulator.
The Government encourages healthy competition and transparency in the telecommunications sector, even though the Government does not prevent operators from obtaining a dominant position or increasing their dominance in the market through specific regulations. Nevertheless, the Government prohibits market leading operators from abusing their dominant position.
Competition in the telecommunications sector, like all Indonesian business sectors, is also governed more generally by the Business Competition Law. The Business Competition Law prohibits agreements and activities which amount to unfair business competition and an abuse of a dominant market position. Pursuant to the Business Competition Law, the KPPU was established as Indonesia's antitrust regulator with the authority to enforce the provisions of the Business Competition Law.
The Business Competition Law is implemented by various regulations, including Government Regulation No.57/2010 (on mergers and acquisitions potentially causing monopolistic practices or unfair business practices) ("GR No.57/2010"). GR No.57/2010 permits voluntary consultation with the KPPU prior to a merger or acquisition, which will result in the KPPU issuing a non-binding opinion. GR No.57/2010 also requires that a mandatory report be made to the KPPU after a merger or acquisition is completed if the transaction exceeds certain asset or sales value thresholds. Further, on October 14, 2019, KPPU issued Regulation No. 3 of 2019 on Assessment of Merger or Consolidation of Business Entities or Share Acquisitions of Companies ("KPPU Regulation No.3/2019"). Under KPPU Regulation No.3/2019, asset acquisitions which meet the set regulatory threshold must be reported to KPPU. In addition, as at the date hereof, a new implementing regulation relating to the Business Competition Law is still being prepared by the Government following the adoption of the Job Creation Law. Such governmental regulation will, among other things, determine the scope and amounts of sanctions imposed on parties responsible for breaching the Business Competition Law.
Cellular
We operate our cellular service business through our 65% majority-owned subsidiary, Telkomsel.
As of December 31, 2020, Telkomsel remained the largest cellular provider in Indonesia, with approximately 169.5 million cellular subscribers and a market share of approximately 58.9% based on our internal estimate of number of total subscribers. We believe the next largest providers were Indosat and XL Axiata, based on number of subscribers as of December 31, 2020. Several other smaller operators also provide cellular services in Indonesia, including Hutchison, which is part of the Hutchison Asia Telecom Group and operates under the "3" or "Tri" brand, and Smartfren Telecom, which is part of the Sinar Mas Group.
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The penetration of SIM cards in the cellular industry in Indonesia is high, well over 100%, making continued growth in penetration increasingly difficult. There were approximately 356.6 million cellular subscribers in Indonesia as of December 31, 2020, compared to approximately 341.1 million as of December 31, 2019. This 4.6% increase was primarily due to effective marketing campaigns used in the cellular industry with initiatives to gain and retain customers. The Government's reinforcement of the prepaid SIM registration policy, as customers no longer have the freedom of accumulating several numbers provided by various operators, had initially caused a slight reduction in the customer base and the number of starterpacks across the industry because customers had to select their preferred operator and phone number. Consequently, we noticed that customers tended to remain with their respective chosen operators for a longer period of time as a result of this policy. The impact of this policy, however, faded in 2020 and had only an insignificant impact on our customer base. The Government's registration policy, however, has resulted in a better-quality customer base with a higher proportion of active subscribers and more efficient SIM card production costs. Due to a reduction in the number of starterpacks, operators can provide better quality services to customers. Additionally, operators are focusing more on offering renewal promotions than on new starterpack promotions. We believe the registration policy, assuming continued implementation, will also have positive long-term impact and support the emergence of healthier competition in the industry.
The shifting trend from legacy services (such as voice and SMS) to data services continues to develop, driven by cheaper prices of smartphones as well as the rapidly growing youth customer segment. Data traffic has grown significantly, while SMS service traffic has decreased. Since 2017, Telkomsel has seen a steep decrease in voice usage. Minutes of usage per mobile subscriber also started to decrease in the second half of 2017. These trends continued in 2019 and 2020 and are likely to continue in the forseeable future, as they are attributable to the substitution of traditional voice and SMS services to Over the Top based calling and messaging services as smartphone penetration in Indonesia has risen.
The following table sets out information as of December 31, 2020 for Telkomsel:
|
| Unit | | Telkomsel |
|
Launch date |
| year | | 1995 |
|
Neutral - 2G, 3G and/or 4G spectrum allocation (GSM 900 MHz) |
| MHz | | 15 |
|
Neutral - 2G, 3G and/or 4G spectrum allocation (GSM 1.8 GHz) |
| MHz |