PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk is accelerating the restoration of telecommunications and digital services in East Nusa Tenggara following an earthquake that struck the region on Saturday (15/8). The earthquake damaged several TelkomGroup telecommunications infrastructure facilities and degraded the quality of mobile services, fixed broadband, and digital services in the affected areas.
Telkom Chief Executive Dian Siswarini stated that most services are returning to normal following repair efforts and the gradual restoration of power supplies. Currently, 85% of Telkomsel's total 735 BTS sites have returned to operation, while the remainder are still being handled.
Initially, the earthquake disrupted approximately 50% of Telkomsel's BTS, but with accelerated repair efforts and the restoration of power supplies, most have recovered. Approximately 400 BTS and 2,600 affected IndiHome customers have been restored in less than 24 hours. Currently, 16,788, or 98.3%, of the total 17,062 IndiHome customers are being served.
Recovery efforts have been prioritised in the areas of Nagekeo, East Manggarai, Manggarai, West Manggarai, Alor, Ende, and Ngada. TelkomGroup's backbone network continues to function well thanks to backup routes, although the rupture of several terrestrial and submarine fibre optic cables has caused capacity reductions at several points.
TelkomGroup has mobilised 300 technical teams to conduct assessments, restore networks, and handle supporting infrastructure in coordination with the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, the National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB), the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), the military and police, local governments, and partners and volunteers. Telkomsel is providing emergency packages consisting of 3GB of data, 100 SMS, and 300 minutes of calls for Rp1 with a seven-day validity period.
