Telekom Indonesia’s telecoms infrastructure subsidiary Mitratel says it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with high altitude platform station (HAPS) firm AALTO to look into providing commercial HAPS solutions in Indonesia.
Under the MoU – which was signed on July 17 but first publicly announced late last week – Mitratel and AALTO will explore ways that HAPS can be offered as a viable service to bring internet access and network availability across what Indonesia calls its “3T regions” – remote, underdeveloped, and disadvantaged.
Airbus subsidiary AALTO designs, manufactures and operates the solar-powered Zephyr HAPS aircraft, which flies in the stratosphere above conventional air traffic to provide low latency, direct-to-device 4G and 5G services.
AALTO says the Zephyr is a payload agnostic platform capable of flying for months at a time, and has a coverage of 7,500 square kilometres – the equivalent of up to 250 terrestrial towers. It’s also able to integrate seamlessly with mobile operator networks as a complementary connectivity solution, the company said.
Mitratel says its digital infrastructure portfolio in Indonesia currently includes more than 38,000 towers and 37,000 km of optical fibre. Mitratel CEO Theodorus Ardi Hartoko said the MoU with AALTO is part of its ongoing plan to pioneer various connectivity initiatives to expand that portfolio effectively into the archipelago’s hard-to-reach areas.
“We are confident that collaboration with AALTO will expand existing infrastructure to improve access to affordable and effective connectivity across 3T regions by developing the industrial and commercial pathway for HAPS and ‘flying tower systems’ (FTS) in Indonesia,” he said.
AALTO CEO Samer Halawi said that there’s a unique opportunity for nonterrestrial networks like HAPS to play a critical role in the telecoms ecosystems of countries like Indonesia. “Our focus now turns to deepening our engagement with Mitratel to build a cohesive HAPS ecosystem in Indonesia.”
AALTO signed a similar deal with Saudi Arabia’s STC Group in March 2023.
AALTO is still working on commercialising its HAPS offering, which it aims to have ready for service in mid-2026, according to its current roadmap. In June, a consortium of Japanese businesses led by NTT Docomo, Space Compass, Mizuho Bank and the Development Bank of Japan committed to invest USD$100 million in AALTO to help it commercialise HAPS connectivity and earth observation services in Japan and across Asia.