Heaptalk, Jakarta — Following Starlink, Amazon Kuiper, a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite-based internet service provider, has entered Indonesia, adding to the number of satellite operators in the country’s market. Telkom has responded to the arrival of Jeff Bezos’ satellite service as an existing player.
Andri Herawan Sasoko, VP of Corporate Communication, stated that the company welcomes Amazon Kuiper’s entry, similar to how it responded to Starlink’s arrival a few years ago. “It’s more or less the same as Starlink back then. Starlink’s presence was not an issue; it helped accelerate Indonesia’s digitalization process. When players like Starlink enter with their satellite services, it speeds up Indonesia’s digital transformation,” Andri said on Wednesday (03/19).
According to him, business competition is something that any company, including Telkom, cannot avoid, as it faces the influx of LEO satellite operators into Indonesia. Therefore, Andri emphasized that Telkom must be agile in responding to the current market conditions. He added, “Competition is inevitable in any business. Take cars, for example—when new players enter, we must be prepared for anything. However, we must strive to remain competitive so that the public continues to choose digital solutions. We have to be prepared.”
Furthermore, Andri explained that once LEO satellite operators receive government approval and secure landing rights, they are not limited to providing services in specific areas but are expected to cover the entire nation. “There’s no division like that where Telkom can serve urban, rural, and even 3T (underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost) regions. Perhaps Amazon Kuiper sees that the 3T market still has untapped potential. So, they might be entering from that angle—that could be their strategy, but we don’t know for sure,” he concluded.
