印尼服务业回顾：电信

Indonesian Service Sector Review:Telecommunications Ibrahim Kholilul ROHMANIndonesia Financial Group Progress (IFG Progress) andSchool of Strategic and Global Studies, Universitas Indonesia Mohammad Marza NAUFALFaculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia Ibrahim NAUFALFaculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia August 2025 Abstract:This paper aims to assess ongoing advancements in the telecommunicationssectorin Indonesia,elucidating strengths and weaknesses and offering policyrecommendations. The telecommunications industry continues to grapple with challengessuch as heavy reliance on imported equipment; pricing issues, particularly at thewholesale level; spectrum management concerns; and ensuring equitable access inaddressing the digital divide. To address these challenges, it is imperative to formulatepolicies that guarantee equitable access and utilisation at affordable pricing, requiringenhanced market conduct and pricing mechanisms. Furthermore, incentivising operatorsto extend coverage to underserved areas is crucial, given the existing supply constraintsin such regions. Keywords:Telecommunications, ICT for development, digital divide JEL Classification:L96, N75, O14 Introduction Thetelecommunications sector,a crucial subset of Indonesia’s information andcommunication technology (ICT) industry, plays a fundamental role in economic growth anddigital transformation by driving innovation and supporting development. However, challengessuch as unequal access, high costs, and limited competition continue to hinder its contribution.These issues restrict its ability to contribute to inclusive and sustainable progress. This paperexaminesthese challenges and proposes strategic policies to enhance accessibility,affordability, and competitiveness within Indonesia’s telecommunications landscape. Whilethis discussion focuses on ICT services, such as telecommunications infrastructure, internetservices, and digital connectivity, ICT goods like smartphones, network equipment, andelectronic components also play a crucial role in supporting the sector’s growth and overalldevelopment. Macro landscape The ICT sector’s contribution to Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) has steadilyincreased since 2010, with a significant jump during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)pandemic as digital services became essential (Figure 1). The share of sectoral value added hasconsistently increased since 2010. The COVID-19 pandemic was a turning point, leading to amore significant contribution. Figure 1 shows significant growth in the ICT share from 2019to 2023. The main contribution comes from the increase in ICT use during the pandemic period,as daily activities such as work and school moved online. The development of Indonesia’s telecommunications industry relies heavily on digitalinfrastructure. To achieve inclusivity and affordability, significant resources are needed forinfrastructure development, which is crucial for meeting market demands. Limited hardwareresources often hinder performance in the national economy and at the regional level. However,advancing internet and telecommunications is vital, as ICT forms the foundation of the digitaleconomy (OECD, 2020) that is driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) (RIS, 2020). Indonesia has experienced a persistent current account deficit in ICT services, primarilydue to a higher volume of imported ICT services compared with exports. Since 2012,Indonesia’s net exports (NX) of ICT services have remained in deficit, with the gap wideningsignificantly from 2010 to 2023. As shown in Figure 2, while ICT service exports graduallyincreased from $1.24 billion in 2010 to $2.77 billion in 2023, the value of ICT service importshas grown at a much faster rate, reaching $5.48 billion in 2023. The negative NX trend showsa growing dependency on imported ICT services, which widened from –$150 million in 2012to –$3.33 billion in 2022. Although exports increased in 2023, the deficit slightly improved to–$2.7 billion. This rising deficit in ICT services is driven by Indonesia’s reliance on foreign digitalservices, including software development, information technology (IT) consultancy, dataprocessing, and cloud computing services, which are predominantly provided by multinational firms. The persistent ICT services trade deficit highlights structural challenges in Indonesia’sdigital economy, including a lack of domestic ICT service providers, limited high-value digitalexports,and dependency on foreign technology firms.However,Indonesia remains acompetitive producer in certain ICT-related sectors, particularly digital financial services,business process outsourcing, and creative industries. To reduce this deficit, strategic policiesare needed to enhance domestic ICT service capabilities, encourage investment in local digitalfirms, and develop policies that strengthen Indonesia’s digital infrastructure. The current account deficit is also caused by the dep