Investment priorities span spectrum, rural coverage and AI–ready infrastructure, as fraudulent pressures increase
December 10, 2025, Jakarta: The GSMA today called for a stronger, investment-led push to accelerate Indonesia's digital transformation and drive innovation, outlining the findings of its recent GSMA Digital Nations 2025 and ASEAN Consumer Scam 2025 reports.
Speaking at the Digital Nation Summit (DNS) in Jakarta, the GSMA outlined a practical program to unlock private capital and accelerate deployment across the 5G spectrum, fiber backhaul and AI-ready data centres, underpinned by policy certainty and cross-sector collaboration.
Indonesian companies are showing one of the region's biggest appetites for digital transformation. A recent GSMA Intelligence survey of more than 580 ASEAN companies shows that Indonesian companies expect to channel an average of 10 percent of their revenue into digital transformation between 2025 and 2030, above the ASEAN (10.4 percent) and global (9.8 percent) averages. Two-thirds of respondents ranked AI among their top three areas of spending, while more than half see 5G-enabled IoT as essential for future growth, underscoring the country's ambition to leverage next-generation technologies for competitiveness and security.
According to GSMA Intelligence, the next wave of 5G investment in Indonesia can unlock another $41 billion in gross domestic product for the country's economy between 2024 and 2030, underscoring the transformative economic impact of digital connectivity (GSMA Intelligence, Forging a resilient digital nation: proposals for Indonesia's future, December 2023). Mobile operators have invested almost $29 billion in Indonesian network infrastructure and services since 2015. With the right investment landscape, the industry (including operators and ecosystem partners) is expected to commit an additional $16 billion between 2024 and 2030, with a strong focus on 5G deployments.
Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific at GSMA commented: “Indonesia's scale, entrepreneurial energy and young, connected population give the country a great opportunity to lead. The priority now is investment where it matters: affordable and predictable spectrum; resilient return; and AI–Ready, sustainable data centers combined with visible consumer protections. With clear and crossed political signals–In executing the sector, Indonesia can innovate by attracting private capital, strengthening defenses against scams, and accelerating inclusive growth across the archipelago..”
The GSMA Digital Nations report tracked the progress of Asia Pacific nations across five pillars, namely infrastructure, innovation, data governance, security and people, highlighting where investment can deliver the greatest impact. Indonesia ranked in the middle of the 21 countries evaluated. While it showcased Indonesia's strengths around people, digital skills and cybersecurity, it also highlighted areas for improvement in innovation and investment. Delays in allocating mid-band spectrum, uneven rural coverage and limited AI-ready capacity risk slowing momentum just as demand accelerates.
Consumer confidence is also under pressure. Indonesian insights from the ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2025 show that Indonesia follows the broader ASEAN picture, where 45% of adults report being victimized throughout their lives and 68% of victims lose money. In Indonesia specifically, fraudulent contacts are even more concentrated on mobile, with OTT messages (50%) and voice calls (44%), both above the ASEAN average. The good news: 81% of Indonesians support operators sharing minimal, specific network signals (e.g. SIM switching and number verification) at high-risk times to stop fraud, paving the way for broader use of GSMA Open Gateway (OGW) anti-fraud APIs.
Key priorities and opportunities highlighted in the reports include:
- More than 100 million people across the APAC region remain without mobile broadband coverage, and rural communities, including those in Indonesia, are disproportionately affected.
- CBRE projects a regional data center capacity gap of 15 to 25 GW by 2028. Indonesia can leverage sustainability-linked financing to accelerate supply; For example, EdgeConneX secured a $403.8 million sustainability-linked loan, tying margins to PUE, renewable electricity use, and safety KPIs. These structures can attract institutional capital while promoting climate goals.
- Indonesia's three major mobile players, Telkomsel, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and XLSmart, have formed an alliance to protect customers from scams and other cybersecurity risks by jointly adopting open telecom API protocols. They are implementing Open Gateway APIs, such as SIM swap, device location verification, number verification, device swap, OTP validation and KYC matching, to protect payments and logins without extensive data sharing. Expanding commercial use in Indonesia will tighten high-risk travel and demonstrate a measurable reduction in scam losses.
Information on Scams in Indonesia (ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2025)
- 45% report having been victimized throughout their lives; 8% in the last year.
- 68% of victims lose money; 11% report a large amount.
- OTT messaging (50%) and voice calls (44%) are top routes; social platforms remain material (36%).
- 81% are comfortable sharing minimal, exception-based, limited-purpose network signals to verify risky transactions.
- The comfort of telcos sharing personal data increases from 75% to 81% when limited to suspicious transactions.
Calls to action for Indonesia
- Publish measurable targets for rural 4G/5G coverage, fiber backhaul densification, and AI-ready data center capacity, aligned with power availability.
- Use time-bound grants and blended financial vehicles (including sustainability-linked instruments) to de-risk rural sites and next-generation data centers.
- Confirm multi-band schedules (low, medium, high), adopt allocation mechanisms that prioritize coverage and investment over short-term revenue, and enable infrastructure sharing.
- Extend live anti-fraud APIs between banks, wallets and platforms; leverage the GSMA APAC Cross-Sector Anti-Scam Task Force (ACAST); and track results (e.g. funds recovered, response time).
- Harmonize data flows, cybersecurity and digital trade rules to reduce compliance costs and expand the markets that Indonesian innovators can target.
-ENDS-
About the GSMA
The GSMA is a global organization that unifies the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver critical innovation for positive business environments and social change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry and society thrive. Representing mobile operators and organizations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, the GSMA offers its members three broad pillars: connectivity for good, industry services and solutions, and outreach. This activity includes policy advocacy; address today's biggest social challenges; underpin the technology and interoperability that make mobile devices work; and provide the world's largest platform to bring together the mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360 series of events.
About the Jakarta Digital Nations Summit
Indonesia's digital transformation is accelerating, and its large population, dynamic economy and expanding connectivity create unprecedented opportunities. However, unlocking the nation's full digital potential requires more than just access: it requires strong digital foundations that are secure, reliable, and designed to support the next wave of innovation.
The GSMA Jakarta Digital Nation Summit 2025 will bring together government leaders, regulators, industry pioneers and ecosystem partners to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) can be a catalyst for inclusive growth across the diverse Indonesian archipelago. The summit will highlight how strategic investments, collaborative governance and people-centric approaches to AI adoption, ensuring the technology empowers communities, strengthens trust in digital systems and drives sustainable growth. By embedding fairness, transparency and accountability in innovation, Indonesia can expand digital inclusion, boost competitiveness and confidently lead the regional and global digital economy.
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