It appears that after two years of pushing for a DVB-H network to be built in Indonesia, Nokia Siemens Networks has finally landed the prize in the form of a surprise contract with rapidly rising media upstart Global Mediacom, a thriving media business, understood to be controlled by members of the Suharto family, the deposed Indonesian military dictator.
Previously Nokia had a trial dating back to 2006 with EMTEK (Elang Mahkota Teknologi) through its subsidiaries Mediatama Citra Abadi and PT Surya Citra Televisi, neither of which appear to be part of Global Mediacom group and which appear to be directly competitive. On the surface of it this deal looks entirely new to Nokia, and upon asking a representative at Mobile TV world Congress, we were told that Nokia has always been talking to three or four companies there. Perhaps we should expect more deals in Indonesia?
Nokia Siemens Networks and Global Mediacom will launch the first services for the Jabodetabek area in the first half of 2008. Jabodetabek is the term given to the metropolitan area surrounding Jakarta, which has a population of around 24 million (around 10% of the county’s population), by far the biggest metropolitan area in Indonesia, and one of the ten largest in the world. It consists of Jakarta along with Bekasi, Bogor in West Java and Tangerang in Banten.
Global Mediacom began life as a broadcaster but recently has become a cellular operator as well, and talks about itself as an integrated networking business.
The deal is being talked about as a joint collaboration and cited by Nokia as the biggest DVB-H agreement signed by Nokia Siemens Networks globally.
Nokia Siemens Networks Indonesia will implement the entire network, supply all the applications and Global Mediacom, will buy in DVB-H devices from the Nokia N77, and work with Nokia Siemens Networks on joint marketing activities to ensure service adoption. To us this sounds like code for Nokia paying for the network, and recouping payment for it from network revenues, and handset provision.
Given that Nokia has been a champion of DVB-H technology and is thought to own many of the underlying technology patents for it, it has so far missed out on contracts of this type, partly because it insists on providing the entire technology end to end, rather than just convincing operators to adopt DVB-H, and partly because other network implementers have beaten it to contracts in places like Italy and Malaysia. So it is easy to believe that this is the largest DVB-H contract for Nokia, although it is certainly not the largest DVB-H network.
Hary Tanoesoedibjo, Group President & CEO of Global Mediacom, said: ‘This collaboration with Nokia Siemens Networks marks an important milestone in our venture into integrated media, which combines broadcasting, entertainment, and telecommunication. Supported by an experienced industry player that can provide complete solutions and services for broadcast mobile TV, we are absolutely confident that we can deliver a service that will bring a rich mobile multimedia experience for the consumer.’ The first services will be launched in the Jabodetabek area in the first half of 2008.