The acquisition of MNC Play by Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH), is sending ripples through the telecommunications industry. This strategic move is destined to broaden IOH’s footprint in the fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) domain, better known by the popular brand name Indosat HiFi. This deal is all set to bring an additional 300,000 fixed home broadband and internet entertainment customers into the IOH family, building on the company’s existing base of 100 million FTTH and mobile customers.
With this deal in place, a new variety of options will open for customers. They can now enjoy combined packages of MNC Play’s Internet Protocol Television Services (IPTV) and FTTH services offered by IOH.
This deal is not just beneficial for customers but also for the fiber network. As part of the agreement, MNC Play’s fibre optic network assets have been tucked under the umbrella of Asianet, a partner of IOH. Asianet will be at the helm, owning, managing and supervising the fibre network.
Vikram Sinha, the President Director and CEO of IOH had noteworthy comments about this crucial step for the company. He stated, “This transforms the scale of our FTTH business, and we expect it to have a positive impact on EBITDA from 2024.” He further demonstrated belief in the enhancement of the company’s services mentioning, “Home broadband will become an increasingly important contributor to Indosat’s growth in the future and we have fortified our position in this important market.”
Indeed, it isn’t just about solidifying a position in the market, but also about contributing to Indonesia’s digital transformation. As Sinha highlighted, the advancement of IOH’s FTTH business will also further their larger purpose – to link and empower the people of Indonesia and impulse the digital transition of the nation.
While we know that this transaction is sure to alter the landscape of the telecommunications industry, the actual financial details remain undisclosed.
In other celebrations, IOH has been awarded at this year’s World Communication Awards in Amsterdam. The company received two top-notch awards. The first, for “Best Network Transformation Initiative,” was on account of IOH being “a great example of a merger done right… harmonising two networks despite the nation’s challenging geography.” Notably, IOH achieved the herculean task of successfully integrating 43,000 sites and decommissioning 17,000 overlapping coverage sites, a year ahead of its schedule.
Furthermore, the company’s novel Marvelous Experience (MX) program won the “Total Experience Award”. This initiative refines the employee onboarding experience, empathises with the employee offboarding process, reducing network compensation resolution times. The collective agreement of the judges was that this is “a comprehensive approach to total experience that involves input from every stakeholder, notably including employees and customers in the idea generation process.”
It’ll be interesting to watch now how these new developments reshape the telecommunications environment, especially in Indonesia. The forward momentum and ambition of IOH is clear and the industry is watching closely as events unfold.
