Indonesian Operators' 5G Buildout Accelerates: Telkomsel at 6,300 BTS as Spectrum Winners Gear Up
Telkomsel operates 6,300 5G sites, Indosat 19,500 and XLSMART around 15,000, with XLSMART winning 700 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum - as an ITB expert warns deployments need matching use cases.
Indonesia's 5G deployment is accelerating across all three major operators, industry reporting compiled on 11 November shows. Telkomsel operates about 6,300 5G base stations, up roughly 2,300 year on year; Indosat reports 19,500; and XLSMART, winner of the 700 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum selection in August, operates around 15,000 sites as of Q2 2026. Tower company Mitratel, with nine-month revenue of Rp7.01 trillion and a 1.57x tenancy ratio, projects rising demand for towers, fiber and power from rural and off-Java rollouts. ITB expert Agung Harsoyo cautioned in the same coverage that deployment must be matched by relevant use cases to justify the investment.
The buildout represents a multi-year capital program spanning network rollout, tower leases, fiber backhaul and site operations across thousands of locations outside Java. That operational footprint - lease contracts, site monitoring, progress reporting across dispersed rural sites - is the part of the 5G cycle where operational technology and documentation demands compound fastest.