2015, Indonesia's Interconnection Costs Among the Highest in Asia

Interconnection costs in Indonesia are relatively high compared to other Asian countries. According to 2015 data from the Telecommunication Management Group, the cost borne by the originating operator for cross-operator calls was US$0.0211, or approximately Rp 275 per minute. In Malaysia, this cost was only US$0.0119.

These high interconnection costs in Indonesia discourage consumers from making calls between different operators. Consequently, the ownership of multiple SIM cards is quite common, and the use of dual-SIM smartphones is very high in Indonesia.

In addition to consumers avoiding calls between operators, mobile service providers focus more on promoting calls within their own network. As a result, the rate of inactive SIM cards in Indonesia is very high, reaching 10-14% per month.