Sumatra Power Outage Disrupts Internet, Affecting 8,737 BTS Stations

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – A power outage affecting parts of Sumatra since Friday (22 May 2026) has disrupted telecommunications services. The Ministry of Communications and Digital (Komdigi) reported 8,737 base transceiver stations (BTS) impacted by the blackout.

Initially, 10,146 sites were offline at 00:00 WIB on 23 May 2026, with a reduction of 1,410 sites in the following 12 hours.

A Komdigi Instagram post stated: ‘The PLN power outage on 22 May 2026 has affected telecommunications services in several Sumatra regions, with 8,737 telecom sites impacted as of 12:00 WIB on 23 May 2026,’ as reported on Tuesday (26 May 2026).

The ministry also noted mobile services were disrupted across 118 regencies and cities in 10 provinces: Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, Jambi, Bengkulu, South Sumatra, Lampung, and Bangka Belitung Islands.

As of 12:00 WIB on 23 May, North Sumatra was the hardest-hit area with 5,493 sites (51.71%), followed by Aceh with 1,904 sites (48.13%) and West Sumatra with 565 sites (13.95%).

Komdigi explained that the blackout caused BTS sites to lose power, leading to increased outages and disrupted telephone and internet services in affected areas.

Network recovery is progressing gradually. The ministry is coordinating with mobile operators to monitor restoration efforts.

Recovery measures include monitoring network conditions, coordination with mobile operators, collaboration with SFR monitoring agencies and regional communications departments, and oversight of service restoration.

Mobile operators have also taken steps to maintain services, including deploying generators to affected BTS sites, providing backup power, prioritising critical sites for restoration, and ensuring fuel supply for generators.