Indonesian telco XL Axiata announces 4G LTE launch in three cities

Indonesian telco XL Axiata announced today the official launch of its 4G LTE service nationwide. The news comes just days after its local competitor Telkomsel launched its own 4G network in Indonesia, and more than a month after Bolt and Telkomsel introduced the first taste of 4G service to the Indonesian public at large back in November.

XL’s 4G network appears to have a wider coverage area than those of Bolt and Telkomsel. It’s set to reach three major Indonesian cities on Java and Sumatra: Jakarta, Medan, and Yogyakarta. Unfortunately, for the regions just outside the nation’s capital, XL’s 4G network is still in the testing phase in select places like the Kelapa Gading neighborhood and some local shopping centers.

XL Axiata has more than 60.5 million subscribers in Indonesia, coming in second behind Telkomsel’s whopping 138 million. Similar to Telkomsel’s service, XL’s 4G network requires the user to replace their old SIM card with a new uSIM card that can store the 4G LTE network configuration settings. XL urged users who want to enjoy speeds of up to 100 Mbps to exchange their current XL card at the nearest service center. In theory, this speed is also higher than Bolt’s 4G service, which has a maximum speed of 72 Mbps, and Telkomsel’s, which has a maximum speed of 36 Mbps.

With 278 million subscribers, Indonesia is the fourth largest mobile market in the world. It is also in the world’s top ten 3G markets, with broadband users skipping fixed connections and going straight to mobile, according to Indonesia tech and investment advisory firm Redwing. The firm expects Indonesia to reach 325 million mobile subscriptions come 2015. Indonesia’s information and communications technology minister Rudiantara made a public statement, lauding XL’s 4G network as the best service and ecosystem in the archipelago.

See: Indonesia finally gets a taste of 4G