Indosat Ooredoo and Cisco have announced a partnership and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a potential collaboration to develop next-generation connectivity solutions for businesses of all sizes and across various industries.

The two companies plan to develop applications that enable new services for digital transformation across various industries. This proves to be another milestone for both Indosat Ooredoo and Cisco as they strive to bring the newest world-class technology to Indonesia.

The MoU states Cisco’s intention to work closely with Indosat Ooredoo on its vision to provide secure agile connectivity solutions for businesses of all sizes and to strengthen Indosat Ooredoo’s mobile and fibre network for more commercial launches of 5G and high-speed connectivity services.

Announcing the partnership in San Jose, California, in the US, Indosat Ooredoo president director and CEO Ahmad Al-Neama said: “We are excited about the next phase of our evolution, which will pave the way for massive innovation and give rise to a new breed of services that benefit the Indonesian economy.

“As businesses continue to transform and embed digital solutions to their offering, we’re proud to partner with Cisco to deliver next-generation connectivity solutions to businesses of all sizes.”

He added that he believed the strategic partnership would play an important role in supporting the government to accelerate digital transformation in Indonesia, as the partnership comes as Indonesia welcomes more commercial launches of 5G services.

Indosat Ooredoo’s expertise and in-depth understanding of the local market, coupled with Cisco’s global leadership in networking and 5G technologies, will create the right dynamics to play a pivotal role in enabling Indonesia’s long-term vision on economic and digital transformation priorities, he said.

Ahmad said the collaboration would help the communication company’s transition to 5G as it forms the foundation for future solutions, including smart cities, the internet-of-things (IoT) and other vertical services.

The collaboration between the two companies will enable capabilities such as low-latency, as well as managed WiFi and SD-WAN technology services to differentiate Indosat Ooredoo’s offerings and position in the 5G era, he said.

Sanjay Kaul, Cisco System’s service provider business president for the Asia Pacific and Japan, said: “Our collaboration with Indosat Ooredoo will see the best of both companies come together to deliver the next-generation network infrastructure powered software-defined routed optical networks, which will enable service agility and digital value plays for small, medium and large enterprises in the 5G era.”

He also noted how the internet had gone “from being a must-have to a critical lifeline” during the pandemic, reiterating that everyone – from people and communities to businesses and governments – rely on the power of connectivity to keep the world running.

Therefore, another crucial element of the collaboration stems from Indosat Ooredoo’s commitment to ensuring 5G preparedness in the future and to provide a safe and secure customer experience to clients throughout the country, he said.

The two companies will also develop use cases that accelerate the utilisation of next-generation network connectivity and 5G services across different customer segments.

It is revealed that virtualisation and network automation will play a prominent role in the service provider’s strategic blueprint, creating a scalable network that supports new services in the fastest and most agile way possible.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK