According to a report, Indonesia will look to tap into the potential of 5G technologies operating at 3.5GHz after the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) taking place in Egypt in October 2019.
Directorate General of Resources and Equipment of Post and Information Technology (SDPPI) spokesman Ismail noted that the WRC is held every four years and amongst other things, is tasked with deciding a frequency band of a given technology. ‘We are waiting for the WRC event,’ he confirmed before going on to say that Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT, known locally as KemKominfo) plans to make use of the existing 3.5GHz middle band frequency used for satellites, and that will be consolidated into 5G networks.
However, he pointed out that the commercialisation of fifth-generation services will be dependent on the nation’s incumbent cellcos, noting that to date, Telkomsel, XL Axiata, Indosat Ooredoo and Hutchison 3 Indonesia (Tri) have only carried out a limited set of trials. Further, Qualcomm Indonesia Country Manager Shannedy Ong was quoted as saying that the main obstruction to the commercial application of 5G technology in Indonesia is lack of spectrum availability.