Telecommunication tower provider PT Gihon Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk plans to add 90 towers, with the addition of approximately 140 tenants, with a Capex (capital expenditure) of IDR 200 billion.
Gihon is a telecommunication company specializing in providing telecommunication towers. The company’s services include engineering services, design, construction, installation and network integration. Currently, its clients consist of major mobile service providers such as Telkomsel, Smartfren, XL Axiata and Indosat. As of September 2022, the company, which was founded in 2001, recorded 935 towers with a total tenancy of around 1,540 tenants.
Previously, Gihon has allocated Capex of IDR 240 billion for 2022 for tower construction, both built-to-suit (B2S) and collocation. Until September 2022, the Capex that have been used for tower construction is approximately IDR 110 billion.
“As of September 2022, the realization of additional towers has reached around 70 towers with a total additional tenancy of around 100 tenants,” Gihon President Director Rudolf P. Nainggolan said, as quoted by Kontan.co.id.
For 2023, Gihon plans to add more towers. The company targets to add around 100 towers with an additional tenancy of around 150 tenants.
Nainggolan said Gihon would also target business development opportunities in several areas, especially in the non-3T areas, namely “underdeveloped, foremost and outermost” areas.
According to World Bank data, 94 million individuals in Indonesia did not have access to the Internet on their mobile devices in 2019. Meanwhile, roughly 80% of those living in rural regions had access to fixed broadband internet. The situation might open up new opportunities for telecommunication infrastructure. However, the geography of the archipelago and its rocky topography in rural regions pose a challenge to the development of telecommunication infrastructure.
