XL Axiata aims to sell 7,000 towers

XL Axiata has become the second Indonesian mobile operator this month to announce plans to sell a large number of its telecom towers.

The company, Indonesia's third-largest mobile carrier, hopes to raise 14 trillion rupiah ($1.55 billion) from the sale of 7,000 telecom towers, president director Hasnul Suhami told the Jakarta Globe.

He said XL Axiata has appointed Goldman Sachs to arrange a sale, but that so far nobody has expressed an interest.

XL Axiata, which is majority-owned by Malaysia's Axiata, currently makes about 4% of its revenue from tower leasing operations. But the company is eager to refocus on its core mobile business, Suhami said.

The operator has rough seas to navigate that will require its full attention, as Indonesia's mobile market has reached saturation point. Suhami estimates that penetration of mobile phones among Indonesians is close to 100%.

As a result, the operator estimates that revenue growth is slowing to about 7% this year, from 27% last year, he told the Globe.

News of the sale comes just over one week after Indonesian tower operator Tower Bersama Infrastructure confirmed it was in exclusive but non-binding talks to buy a number of towers from XL Axiata rival PT Indosat.

While Tower Bersama has not disclosed the number of towers that it may buy, Indosat is rumored to be looking to sell up to 3,000 towers for as much as $500 million.

source : Telecom Asia

Obama ramps up Chinese vendor scrutiny

In an escalation of the US government's scrutiny of Chinese vendors' equipment, president Obama has ordered AT&T and Verizon to divulge confidential information about the structure of their networks.

The two carriers, which now face a dilemma between internal and national security, are among a list of companies which received a survey in April from the US commerce department. The survey asked firms to provide a detailed list of foreign-made equipment and software on its networks.

The motivation behind the survey was fear that spyware could be implanted in foreign-manufactured equipment, which pose a risk to national security. Companies which do not respond could face criminal charges.

According to Bloomberg News, which obtained a copy of the survey, companies were required to provide details on the origin of optical-transmission components, transceivers and base-station controllers. Details on discovered security breaches within the company, such as “unauthorized electronic hardware” or suspicious equipment capable of data duplication and redirection also had to be revealed.

Firms were also asked to list foreign telecommunications equipment manufacturers which offered the most attractive discounts and leasing schemes, as well as the terms manufacturers requested, including physical access protocol, in return for such discounts.

Two trade groups, the US Telecom Association and CTIA – The Wireless Association, have protested the issue of the survey on the grounds that such actions deviate from voluntary cooperation between the telecoms industry and government in the name of national security.

More domestic security concerns also came to light, due to the lack of information over how procured data would be handled.

According to Bloomberg News companies also lacked faith in the Commerce Department, which handles the survey, as the department had itself been hacked by the Chinese in 2006.

Companies have till June 10 next year to send in encrypted responses. AT&T and Verizon have confirmed receipt of the survey, but declined further comment.

The US House Permanent Select Committee had last month singled out equipment vendor Huawei as a national security threat due to the company’s alleged relationship with the Chinese military. Huawei president Ren Zhengfei had earlier worked as a military technologist.

Huawei has for years struggled against national security concerns due to its roots, particularly in its attempt to expand its USA business. Spokesman for Huawei William Plummer told Bloomberg the company welcomes a security probe into its business.

source : Telecom Asia

PT Telkom to spend $2.3b on HSBB project

Indonesia's PT Telkom has announced plans to spend 21.19 trillion rupiah ($2.3 billion) through to 2015 on a national high-speed broadband network project.

The state-owned operator aims to cover 497 cities nationwide with a network providing peak speeds of between 20Mbps and 100Mbps through its “true broadband” project, Jakarta Post said.

The company has already passed around 1.7 million homes through the project, which launched in June, and aims to pass 13 million by end-2015.

PT Telkom is also improving its backhaul infrastructure, and has completed deployment of a fiber backbone spanning over 26,000km, and encircling Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Denpasar, Mataram and Kupang.

In addition, Telkom will begin work on its own 5,500km subsea cable system, the Sulawesi and Maluku, Papua Cable System (SMPS), in late 2012.

Announcing the budget for the true broadband project, Telkom president director Rinaldi Firmansyah told local media the additional infrastructure is required to support the operator's transition to its new telecom, information, media and edutainment (TIME) model.

The company aims to boost revenue from information, media and edutainment VAS from 9% in 2011, to 15% by 2015.

source : Telecom Asia