XL Axiata hailed its deployment on the island province of Kalimantan in Borneo, where it increased base station presence by 1,100 sites (42% year-on-year), with coverage now reaching 75% of the location.
In a statement, the Indonesian operator detailed the base stations were rolled out across all five provinces of Kalimantan. The operator’s 4G network now reaches 1,800 villages and 466 sub-districts in 55 cities/regencies.
Data traffic on the island increased by 29% year-on-year, the operator claimed, showcasing pent-up demand.
The operator noted that its network in Kalimantan is supported by over 9,800 base stations including 5,800 which are LTE sites, and inter-regional fibre-optic cables.
XL Axiata acting regional group head of Kalimantan, Horas Lubis, said: "Apart from the business aspect, our vision in expanding data networks to various regions of Kalimantan is to support accelerated development.
“We want to contribute to the local government's efforts to advance the Kalimantan region, including preparing for the construction of network infrastructure in the National Capital Region. Quality data network infrastructure, including the availability of a fast internet connection, will enable the implementation of digitization in various fields which will ultimately support accelerated development in Kalimantan.”
Lubis added the operator focused on boosting in the more remote locations that border the Malaysian portion of Borneo, namely the provinces of West Kalimantan, North Kalimantan and East Kalimantan.
XL Axiata tapped a number of the latest technologies to automate its networks such as AI and machine learning, as well as dynamic spectrum sharing and 8T8R antennas on its base stations.
Currently, XL Axiata is re-farming 3G spectrum to 4G, confirming it has completed this process for 90% of base stations in Kalimantan.