JAKARTA, Indonesia—Indosat Multimedia Mobile (IM3), a new entrant in Indonesia’s cellular market, reached an agreement to use Satelindo’s GSM network to cover blank spots in its network. IM3, which began its services last September, realized its lack of coverage in the archipelago will slow its market penetration in the future.
Under the agreement, IM3 subscribers will automatically use Satelindo’s network when in areas without IM3 coverage, although the service is currently only available for its postpaid subscribers.
IM3, which counts 140,000 subscribers, is the country’s first operator to deliver General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) services, and it targets primarily the young generation.
Suharso W Sulistyo, IM3’s manager of planning and engineering, said mobile data, mostly GPRS, roughly represents 10 percent to 15 percent of IM3’s total traffic. Satelindo is the second-biggest GSM operator in the country with 1.49 million subscribers, and is owned 75 percent by Indosat. Satelindo also plans to offer GPRS services this year.
Indosat is IM3’s parent company as well.
