Telecommunikasi Operators Prepare To Face Increased Potential Community Movement During Eid 2023

Director & Chief of Technology Officer XL Axiata, I Gede Darmayusa while checking the reliability of telecommunication tower lithium batteries (photo: dock. intermediate)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation through the Transportation Policy Agency (BKT) in its survey stated that the potential for community movement during the Eid al-Fitr 2023 period (Idul Fitri 1444 H) reached 123.8 million people. This number has increased compared to the prediction of community movement during Eid al-Fitr in 2022 by 85.5 million people. Some of the factors that cause the high potential for community movement during this year's homecoming period, among others, the absence of PPKM, entering pre-endemic period or approaching normal post-COVID-19 pandemic, an economy that is getting better, there are no restrictions or travel bans, and positive perceptions from the community in the implementation of Eid 2022 transportation. Based on the results of the survey, the origin of the movement of the people is predicted to be dominated by Java, which is 62.5 percent or 77.3 million people. The five regions from which the travelers came were the most, East Java 17.1 percent (21.2 million people). Then, Central Java 15.1 percent (18.7 million people), Jabodetabek 14.8 percent (18.3. million people), West Java 12.1 percent (14.9 million people), and North Sumatra 3.6 percent (4.4 million people). Meanwhile, the five destinations for community travel are, first, Central Java 26.45 percent (32.75 million people). Then, East Java 19.87 percent (24.6 million people), West Java 16.73 percent (20.72 million people), Jabodetabek 6.52 percent (8.07 million people), and Yogyakarta 4.78 percent (5.9 million people). Furthermore, for the selection, the mode of transportation is dominated by land transportation, namely cars 22.07 percent of individuals (27.32 million people), 20.3 percent of motorcycles (25.13 million people), 18.39 percent of buses (22.77 million people), 11.69 percent of intercity trains (14.47 million people), and 7.7 percent of rental cars (9.53 million people). The readiness of telecommunication operators During homecoming and return flow as before, the public will use a lot of telecommunications, be it social media, Whatsapp (WA), SMS, or telephone for various activities such as "iseng" to fill free time, communicate, to upload photos of various activities. All of this certainly requires a reliable telecommunication network that is not disconnected, clean, and of course does not find any areas that do not have a network or blank spot. A number of telecommunication operators competed in advance to prepare for reliability, even increasing the capacity of the telecommunications network which is predicted to increase during homecoming and back to normal day compared to on a normal day. One of the telecommunication operators of PT XL Axiata Tbk. (XL Axiata) predicts that throughout Ramadan until Lebaran 2023 the company's service traffic will increase by 30 percent compared to normal days and the company has prepared all infrastructure to support the smooth running of customer telecommunications. Director & Chief of Technology Officer XL Axiata, I Gede Darmayusa said the increase in traffic in every Ramadan and Eid can occur because it cannot be separated from changes in customer behavior. According to him, both moments, Indonesian people are also more and more face-to-face meetings online with family and relatives, communities, and friends who have not seen each other for a long time. In addition to increasing capacity, other anticipatory steps in the form of network optimization by looking at the possibility of movement of community mobility or customers during the Eid holiday. For that purpose, a number of areas that are usually homecoming destinations, especially on the island of Java, will be a special concern. The company's normal data network is sufficient to serve existing traffic traffic. However, to ensure the network's ability to accommodate a surge in traffic later, capacity remains increased up to three times from normal days. A number of network dissipation measures have been taken by the company team by adjusting to the trend of using types of services, especially data services, homecoming traditions, and customer movements during the Eid holiday. The availability of road infrastructure new toll roads in several areas that will be able to be utilized by the community during the Lebaran holiday, are also the company's attention. The company, said Gede, ensures that most of the main homecoming routes have been served with a 4G LTE quality data network. The company's routine improvement of network quality is carried out according to increased traffic, including the addition of a new base transceiver station (BTS), the addition of fiber optic networks and BTS capacity, as well as network optimization. The company assesses that in addition to the most homecoming and return flow on the island of Java, the mobility of the people on the island of Sumatra is also large enough so that network strengthening is needed so that customers can still communicate clearly. The company has around 140 4G BTS along the Trans Sumatra Palembang Lampung Toll Road, one of the most crowded main sections in Sumatra and is the main homecoming route for Lebaran homecoming. Recently, along the toll road space that connects South Sumatra with Lampung and also to In the direction of Java, there were an additional 63 4G BTS in the Ogan Komering Ilir and South Lampung areas. In addition, there were also additional capacities in 81 BTS located in South Lampung, Central Lampung, Ogan Ilir, Ogan Komering Ilir, Pesawaran, West Tulangbawang, and Palembang City. In the last 2 years, there was a 117 percent increase in traffic on the Palembang Lampung Toll Road with a total length of 373 kilometers. In addition to supporting services for company customers which is also a toll user, the 4G network also serves customers in 484 villages in 35 sub-districts located next to the first expressway in Sumatra. Strengthening network infrastructure including optimizing, increasing network capacity, measuring customer experience is also done along the main route on Java Island, both toll roads and non-toll roads, also along the railway line, by preparing a network with a capacity of 2-3 times larger than on a normal day. Currently, a total of more than 2,000 4G BTS that support services along the Trans Java toll road is 979 kilometers. Not wanting to lose to its competitors, cellular operators part of the Telkom Group, Telkomsel, are also ready to optimize service networks to meet the digital needs of the community during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr 1444 H. Telkomsel President Director Hendri Mulya Syam estimates that data service traffic during the Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr 1444 H moments will be carried out. jumped to 11.2 percent.

In more detail, Telkomsel estimates that there will be an increase in access to social media by up to 6.2 percent, then communication services (instant messaging and video conferencing) will increase by about 20 percent, followed by video streaming services growing 15.6 percent, as well as 32.4 percent mobile gaming ride services. Furthermore, accessbrowsing is expected to increase by 2.4 percent and access to e-commerce services is up to 7 percent. Reflecting on estimates of the soaring digital activity rate, Telkomsel takes steps to carry out technological upgrades with a focus on 490point of interest(POI) spread across various parts of Indonesia. The POI includes 59 residential areas, 68 main transport transit areas (air, stations, terminals, and ports), 315 special areas (public service centers, city squares, and shopping centers), 28 major homecoming lane areas, as well as 20 major mosques. The adaptation of network tests on the homecoming route with a distance of 17.895 kilometers has also been carried out by Telkomsel to ensure the quality security and availability of the network, including those reaching 2.725 main toll access sections throughout Indonesia. Strengthening network infrastructure capabilities has also been carried out through increasing the capacity of 277 units of BTS4G/LTE, adding 221 new BTS 4G/LTE units, as well as operating an additional 53 units of COMpactmobileBTS (Combat), complementing more than 260,000 Telkomsel BTS units serving 96 percent of the population region in Indonesia. With the strengthening of the network from these telecommunication operators, the public is expected to remain able to stay in touch, convey news, saying Eid al-Fitr, as well as using various social media as a means of entertainment through its communication devices.