IPTV is coming to Indonesia, one of Asia-Pacific’s least well-penetrated pay-TV countries, with Hong Kong’s PCCW signing a deal with the country’s principal telco to launch pay-TV on IPTV. 

PCCW International has signed a memorandum of understanding with PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) and its subsidiary PT Indonusa Telemedia (Telkomvision), which already offers DTH and cable TV, to co-invest in Telkomvision. Services will include IPTV and transactional services as well as DTH broadcasts.

PCCW operates the Now TV IPTV service in Hong Kong, which was one of the world's IPTV pioneers and now challenges market leader i-Cable for the number one market position.

Telkomvision’s service will “deliver compelling international and local content to various audiences in Indonesia, complementing a successful nationwide DTH and cable service that has already attracted more than 140,000 subscribers.”

Despite a population of around 240 million and 53.5 million homes, there are just over 40 million TV homes of which between one and two per cent are estimated to have pay-TV. Market leader is satellite platform Indovision.

Telkomvision wants to become Indonesia’s leading pay-TV service by providing targeted multi-tiered pay-TV services across multiple platforms bundled with Telkom’s other offerings as part of a quad-play strategy.

PCCW has been awarded preferred-partner status in the business, technology and implementation aspects of the Indonesian pay-TV venture, and will use its flagship IPTV product, PCCW MediaCore.

Telkom’s CEO, Rinaldi Firmansyah, said: "By rapidly developing a quadruple-play environment in Telkom, supported by PCCW's rich experience, we will be able to strengthen Telkom's leadership in a consumer market ready to embrace new ways of enhancing everyday Indonesian lifestyles via world-class technology.”

PCCW Group Managing Director Alex Arena said: "With a population of more than 220 million, Indonesia represents a fast-growing and exciting market for PCCW. We are proud to have won the opportunity to join forces with Telkom and Telkomvision to launch world-class IPTV services in Indonesia and we believe we have all the best elements in place to replicate the success PCCW has achieved in Hong Kong's pay-TV market."

But there are dangers for PCCW. An involvement by Malaysia’s Astro in Indonesia’s PT Direct Vision, which has a licence agreement allowing it to use the Astro brand, has led to drawn-out discussions over an equity stake, while Astro loses money in the venture. The licensing agreement is due to expire next week, on September 1. There is no word from Astro on its plans for the involvement.

© Rapid TV News 2008