Telkom wants 10 percent boost in overseas business

Indonesian telecoms operator PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) reiterates its plans to expand into 5 new markets in Southeast Asia and Middle Eastern and North African (MINA) regions. By doing so, it hopes to grow the revenue stream generated by overseas business units.

In a report by The Jakarta Post last Saturday, it cited Arief Yahya, president director of Telkom, who reiterated the company's plans to have a presence in 10 overseas countries by the end of 2013. It currently operates in Singapore, Timor Leste, Hong Kong, Australia and Malaysia, it added.

The telco had in February announced plans to enter Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Macau, South Korea and Taiwan by the end of the year, and Yahya hopes these new markets will help boost overseas revenues, which currently stand at 3 percent of overall revenues, to 10 percent by 2015.

The company faced a setback earlier this month though, when it failed to make the cut during the pre-qualification process to secure a license to provide mobile services in Myanmar. "There's been a difference in views between us and the committee in Myanmar," the executive explained.

He added Telkom is still working to have a presence in the country by this year, stating it "still wanted to be there".

Yahya also noted the language barrier is the telco's biggest challenge in doing business overseas. "However, we remai confident after seeing countries like South Korea and China dominating the world," he added.