The new report from the GSMA, published at its Indonesia Digital Nations Summit in Jakarta, evaluates Indonesia's progress to becoming a digital nation and recommends action points to accelerate progress
6 December 2023, Jakarta: The Indonesian government has made strong steps towards becoming a leading digital nation, according to a report published today at the GSMA's Indonesia Digital Nations Summit in Jakarta. However, the country needs to adopt a whole-government approach and be more joined-up around critical policy requirements, if Indonesia is to achieve its goals of digitally transforming society and becoming a top 10 global economy by 2030.
By doing so, Indonesia stands to unlock circa $18 billion in investment from the mobile industry between 2024 and 2030, mostly on 5G networks. This, in turn, is expected to contribute $41 billion to GDP over the next six years.
As part of its key recommendations, the GSMA report, entitled Forging a resilient digital nation: Proposals for Indonesia's future , analyses Indonesia's journey to becoming a digital nation and recommends action points the government and industry must expedite to achieve this transition. Above all, the report outlines opportunities to improve and accelerate progress in each of the five pillars - Infrastructure, Innovation, Data Governance, Security and People that will help it meet its ambition to becoming one of the world's top digital nations.
Digital nations incorporate digital technologies and services into all sectors of the economy, with the aim to drive productivity and improve the livelihoods of citizens. 5G is a key component of the infrastructure required to power future digital nations, given its ability to deliver reliable network-based services and enable the emerging technology that will help to reshape the local economy and modernise industries.
Julian Gorman, Head of APAC at the GSMA, said: While Indonesia has achieved notable success in its journey to become a digital nation, transforming the country's digital ecosystem won't be possible without the necessary investment from the private sector. To unlock this, a whole-government approach is needed to ensure the right measures are in place which encourage this, including incentivising infrastructure investment, simplifying sector-specific fees, and cutting red tape.
Despite the country consisting of over 18,000 islands, Indonesia has achieved an expansive network of digital infrastructure with 96% of the population now covered by 4G networks. However, 5G mobile connectivity will be crucial to achieving new economic targets and investment will require policy imperatives to accelerate the rollout of 5G infrastructure, where it is needed the most. These recommendations include:
Ensuring sustainable investments in digital networks
The rollout of 5G is set to drive an increase in smartphone demand and data traffic. In Indonesia, shipments of 5G models grew 54% in Q3 2023 and accounted for 19% of the total. However, operators' ability to expand network capacity and coverage is often hindered by regulatory constraints, market structures and excessive tax burdens. This has created an investment gap where market conditions for private investment in telecoms networks are not favourable enough to meet ambitious national and regional digital policy targets.
Therefore, the GSMA report calls on all parts of government to work together with industry stakeholders to:
Encourage voluntary infrastructure sharing (passive and active) to reduce the cost of network rollout, particularly in difficult terrains.
Reduce red tape for obtaining the necessary permits and right-of-way (RoW) for cell-site location and fibre deployment to ease network rollout, particularly 5G densification. For example, the amendment of RoW rules in India in 2022 has been credited for the rapid rollout of 5G and fibre infrastructure in the ensuing months.
Reduce and simplify sector-specific taxes and fees (including tower taxes and tower building permission fees, and various fees imposed by municipal authorities) to ease the cost burden of network rollout and operations and ensure the financial sustainability of the mobile industry.
Provide policy incentives to encourage investment in infrastructure. In South Korea, government incentives in the form of tax credits and tax reductions for operators announced in 2020 helped unlock investment of around KRW25.7 trillion ($22 billion) in 5G networks.
Allow further consolidation in the telecoms sector to drive synergies and the scale required for expansive infrastructure rollout.
Achieving sustainable spectrum pricing
As recently warned by the GSMA, Indonesia also risks a $14 billion (IDR 216 trillion) productivity loss to its economy, unless it focused on ensuring future mobile spectrum prices are sustainable. It therefore recommends that:
Reserve prices are set conservatively below estimates of market value to enable price discovery and reduce the risk of unsold spectrum.
Government reviews the formula for calculating annual spectrum fees (BHP IPFR) and consider adjustments to the parameters to provide the right long-term incentives and avoid disproportionate increases in costs that are not aligned with evolving market conditions.
A clear spectrum roadmap is laid-out that considers not only current bands being planned but also the longer term needs for Indonesia, especially for mid-bands in the 2025-2030 timeframe. Greater certainty around the availability of spectrum and associated conditions is crucial for operators to prepare investment plans, secure financing and develop strategies for network deployment and service delivery.
The Indonesia Digital Nations Summit
The report findings were published as the GSMA hosted its Indonesia Digital Nations Summit at The Westin Jakart
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
04/03/2026
For many fans, a song's backstory can be just as compelling as the final pro...
04/03/2026
In 2006, Spotify was founded on the belief that technology could bring artists a...
04/03/2026
Spotify is back on the ground for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and we&#...
04/03/2026
Spotify had an energizing week in Sydney, Australia, filled with powerful conver...
04/03/2026
Earlier this year, we launched Directed By, a documentary-style series that pull...
04/03/2026
KT and Rohde & Schwarz to showcase AI-enhanced radio transmission performance In a joint 6G AI proof-of-concept demonstration, the CMX500 one-box tester from ...
04/03/2026
Luxembourg, 3 March 2026 - SES S.A. has today published its 2025 Annual Report, following the announcement of the company's full year financial results for ...
04/03/2026
Luxembourg, March 3, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, along with I...
04/03/2026
04 Mar 2026
VEON Partners with GSMA Innovation Fund to Accelerate Digital Innov...
04/03/2026
04 Mar 2026
VEON's Beeline Uzbekistan and Rakuten Symphony Partner for Open...
04/03/2026
Wednesday 4 March 2026
Sky Sports unveils plans for 2026 Formula 1 coverage
Sky Sports is preparing for one of the most highly anticipated F1 seasons in recen...
03/03/2026
For many, finding time or headspace to pick up a book can feel out of reach, but...
03/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Realtek demonstrate first test solution for Bluetooth LE Hi...
03/03/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
03/03/2026
Luxembourg, 2 March 2026 -- SES S.A. fully consolidates Intelsat from 17 July 2025 and announces financial results for the year ended 31 December 2025
FY25 Pe...
03/03/2026
RT is proud to support a rich and diverse programme of arts and cultural events taking place across Ireland throughout March 2026. This month brings a remarkab...
03/03/2026
03 Mar 2026
VEON and MeetKai Expand Collaboration to Explore Sovereign AI Infra...
03/03/2026
Tuesday 3 March 2026
Sky releases official trailer for The Miniature Wife, a Sk...
03/03/2026
Tuesday 3 March 2026
Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac land first ever live commentary ...
03/03/2026
Tuesday 3 March 2026
The Dyers' Caravan Park reopens for a second season after a hit launch on Sky
The Dyers' Caravan Park
JPEG (510KB)
Sky books a ...
03/03/2026
Harmonic's cOS Virtualized Broadband Platform Simplifies Network Operations, Lowers Hardware Dependency and Enables Seamless DOCSIS and Fiber Growth SAN JO...
03/03/2026
Comscore to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial ResultsRESTON, VA, March 3, 2026 Comscore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for plannin...
03/03/2026
Self-taught on iMovie, Hanagami transitioned to Final Cut Pro in 2009, discovering that professional tools could give him full creative control over how his wor...
03/03/2026
RT Media Sales has announced Spry Finance has renewed it's sponsorship of M...
02/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates FR1-FR3 carrier aggregation, advancing 6G readiness Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. have reached another pivotal ...
02/03/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, and Arqit Quantum Inc. (Nasdaq: ARQQ, A...
02/03/2026
Luxembourg, February 26, 2026 - SES and Africa Mobile Network (AMN) have expande...
02/03/2026
Monday 2 March 2026
Saturday Night Live UK announces writing team
L-R: Jonno Johnson; Charlie Skelton; Celya AB; Omar Badawy; Gr inne Maguire; Laura Claxton; ...
27/02/2026
Since its inception, Gorillaz has been known for blending art with genre-bending...
27/02/2026
This week, Spotify introduced Audiobook Charts for the U.S. and U.K. The charts make it easy to discover your next favorite book by showing what's popular a...
27/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Viasat to collaborate on NB-NTN IoT test plan for connectivi...
27/02/2026
In media technology, big features often steal the spotlight - AI integrations, cloud transformations, automation frameworks. But for the people who use these to...
27/02/2026
Digital Asset Management systems sit at the heart of most marcoms operations. They centralise content, organise it, and make it discoverable. Integrated with th...
27/02/2026
The AI Wild West comes to NAB 2026 and Blue Lucy is bringing the Sheriff
The AI Wild West is here, and media organisations are feeling the heat. On Booth W23...
27/02/2026
A deeply personal, uncompromising portrait of the legendary punk rock iconFriday...
27/02/2026
One of Ireland's favourite lifestyle shows Home of the Year, returns for its 12th series and will be proudly sponsored by SIRO. The brand-new series will ai...
27/02/2026
Our Farm: A GIY Story lands on RT One and RT Player from March 3
From walled garden to community farm, new six-part series captures the unfiltered realities...
27/02/2026
Note: English version included below the Irish language version.
Seachtain na Gaeilge 2026 ar RT
A Ghaeilge mo cheol th '
T feachtas athnuaite i n...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz awarded contract by Israel Airports Authority for QPS201 securit...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz highlights its unique CMX500 one-box tester tailored for NTN tes...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz high-efficiency transmitter powers next-gen broadcast services i...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz highlights its comprehensive embedded systems test solutions at ...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to showcase spectrum security and network efficiency solutions a...
The new report from the GSMA, published at its Indonesia Digital Nations Summit in Jakarta, evaluates Indonesia's progress to becoming a digital nation and recommends action points to accelerate progress 
