Indonesian state-owned mobile operator Telkomsel has emerged as the winner of an auction for 30 MHz of 2.3-GHz spectrum with a bid of 1 trillion rupiah ($73.9 million).
The company beat out four other operators, including XL Axiata and Indosat, to secure the spectrum.
The Nikkei reports that Telkomsel will need to pay an upfront fee of double its bidding price – 2 trillion rupiah – within 10 days as well as an annual license fee.
With the acquisition of the additional spectrum Telkomsel is expected to be in a position to expand its network capacity by 30%, the report states.
Telkomsel is Indonesia's dominant mobile operator with 178 million subscribers and 150,000 base stations across the nation. It is the mobile subsidiary of state-owned operator PT Telkom.
Under government regulations Telkomsel will now be unable to bid during the next spectrum auction, scheduled to commence next week. Indosat, XL Axiata and Hutchison 3 Indonesia are expected to participate in the auction for two blocks of 2.1-GHz spectrum.