Mandatory Registration Causes 34% Drop in Indosat Mobile Subscribers

The mandatory registration of mobile phone SIM cards from October 31, 2017, to February 28, 2018, resulted in a decrease in the number of mobile phone subscribers. Two of Indonesia's largest mobile operators, Indosat Ooredoo and Telkomsel, were significantly impacted, experiencing subscriber losses exceeding 10%.

Indosat was the most severely affected by the SIM card registration regulation. This mobile operator, 65% of which is owned by Ooredoo Asia Pte Ltd, had 64.1 million subscribers in September 2018, a decrease of 32.9 million (approximately 33.92%) compared to September 2017 (YoY). Similarly, Telkomsel also experienced a subscriber decline of 22.55 million (11.85%), resulting in 167.81 million subscribers (YoY). In contrast, XL Axiata saw an increase of 1.4 million subscribers (2.67%) compared to the previous year (YoY).

The decline in subscribers directly impacted the financial performance of these mobile operators. Indosat's revenue in the first nine months of 2018 fell by 25.7% to Rp 16.76 trillion (YoY), and its profit plummeted by 47.9% to Rp 5.16 trillion (YoY). Similarly, Telkomsel's revenue decreased by 5.5% to Rp 65.72 trillion (YoY), and its profit dropped by 21.5% to Rp 18.3 trillion (YoY). Although XL Axiata did not experience a subscriber decrease, its financial performance also deteriorated. In the first nine months of the year, it incurred a loss of Rp 144.8 billion, compared to a profit of Rp 238 billion in the previous year.