Erick Thohir Criticizes Telkom Business, Advises Telkomsel as SOE

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir voiced his criticism about the poor business exploration of state-run telecommunication firm PT Telkom Indonesia in the digital sector. He said nearly 70 percent of the company’s revenue was contributed by its subsidiary, Telkomsel.

“Telkomsel’s dividend represents Telkom’s revenue at almost 70 percent. It’s better to close down Telkom and take Telkomsel to be directly under SOE Ministry because its dividend is clear,” said Erick in Menara Mandiri, Jakarta, Wednesday, February 12.

Erick then demanded Telkom change and transform its business, such as database, big data, until data cloud business. “How come its data cloud is managed by Alicloud. Huge database and data are considered the new oil, how can it be handled by other countries?” said Erick, mentioning the cloud computing company, a subsidiary of China-based Alibaba Group.

According to the minister, the world has entered the inevitable disruption industry, so he urged the board of directors of state companies, including Telkom, to be updated about technology. Otherwise, business development may decline, Erick added.

The disruption era, Erick Thohir went on, diverted the scope of the telecommunication industry from sound to data service. At present, Erick considered Telkom’s infrastructure quite capable to embrace the changes.

“So why don’t we run big data or cloud business. Don’t let it be controlled by foreign countries. During the previous Asian Games, I had to use Alicloud even though I don’t want it. Why Telkom does not have it?” he said. “We don’t want Telkom to rely on Telkomsel, please open a new business opportunity.”

CAESAR AKBAR