Mastel Urges Telecom Operators to Transform into AI Businesses, Here's Why!

JAKARTA - The Chairman of the Indonesian Telematics Society (Mastel), Sarwoto Atmosutarno, has urged telecom operators in Indonesia to transform in line with the times. The telecom business is assessed as needing to shift from mere bandwidth management to models based on algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI).

The statement was delivered by Sarwoto at the IndoTelko Forum 2026 in Jakarta on Tuesday (29/4/2026). According to him, the future of the telecommunications industry will be determined by the ability to leverage AI and 5G networks simultaneously.

“The most important lesson I take home today is whether operators are truly moving from being just bandwidth-driven businesses to also algorithm-driven businesses,” said Sarwoto.

He did not deny that Indonesia’s position in connectivity development is still lagging. However, this situation must be viewed as a challenge that can be turned into growth opportunities.

“All those figures, let’s convert them into nice problems for Indonesia,” he hoped. Optimism, according to him, is a crucial asset to accelerate the national digital transformation.

Sarwoto assessed that the government has taken the right position as an orchestrator and enabler. Regulatory support, including potential non-tax state revenue (PNBP) incentives, is deemed crucial to accelerate 5G and AI investments.

Besides regulation, operators also need to prepare clear monetisation strategies. 5G development, he said, cannot rely solely on device penetration.

On the other hand, significant potential comes from the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, to services requiring very low latency. Sarwoto also highlighted the importance of fixed mobile convergence (FMC).

In the future, society will need integrated services without separating fixed and mobile networks. “This is what is being pushed towards how we move towards what is called an AI-driven society,” he explained.