Indonesia's new fiber grid is half-owned by its biggest rival

Technicians installing submarine fiber cable at Jakarta port, orange spools and industrial equipment visible — Technicians installing submarine fiber cable at Jakarta port facility | Illustration: Indoneo

On August 26, 2026, PT Infra Fiber Teknologi launched RAIA Grid, an 86,000-kilometer wholesale fiber and submarine cable platform spanning Indonesia’s 17,000 islands. Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison retains a 49.7 percent effective interest, while control rests with Arsari Group, the conglomerate chaired by Hashim S. Djojohadikusumo — brother of President Prabowo Subianto.

The launch materials described the network as a neutral open-access backbone for all carriers and hyperscalers. No regulator has established enforceable rules to ensure that neutrality given the ownership structure.

The fiber launch on August 26 in Jakarta checked every box on the presentation deck. 86,000 kilometers of terrestrial backbone and submarine cable. Open-access wholesale. A digital superhighway for the world’s fourth most populous country. What the speakers did not address is whether a network half-owned by an incumbent carrier and controlled by the president’s brother can credibly operate as a neutral backbone — and the regulator has been silent on the question.

According to Hendri Mulya Syam, RAIA Grid’s president director, the platform is built with a clear strategic ambition to become the digital superhighway connecting Indonesia’s increasingly complex digital ecosystem, from data center to data center, and ultimately connecting Indonesia to the world. The ownership diagram tells a more complicated story. Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Indonesia’s second-largest mobile operator, booked roughly Rp 11.7 trillion from the carve-out while keeping a 49.7 percent stake through a chain of subsidiaries and share exchanges. It still runs a competing network. Arsari Group, through an investment vehicle, holds the controlling interest. Arari’s founder and chair is the president’s brother.

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The tension is not hidden. It was simply not on the agenda.

A regulation that exists, and one that does not

KOMINFO‘s Regulation No. 5 of 2021 requires passive infrastructure providers to open ducts, poles, and related facilities to telecommunications operators on equal terms. The rule prohibits discrimination in access — a foundation for shared infrastructure models. It does not, however, define behavioral neutrality for a wholesale fiber platform that also sells inter-data-center interconnect and plans to assemble Nvidia GB300-class GPUs. The regulatory tool exists. Its scope has not been stretched to fit the thing RAIA Grid is building.

The ownership math is straightforward. In early July 2026, Indosat and its subsidiary PT Aplikanusa Lintasarta sold an 84.9 percent stake in IFT to PT Nusantara Fiber Teknologi, Arsari’s investment vehicle. The sellers then contributed their remaining 15.1 percent into NFT in exchange for new shares. Combined direct and indirect ownership lands at approximately 49.7 percent. Citi advised Indosat on the deal, which grossed about $684 million at late-August exchange rates.

The closest operational parallels sit outside Indonesia. Chorus in New Zealand operates as a structurally separated wholesale network with ownership caps — any shareholder reaching 10 percent requires Crown approval, and foreign ownership above 49.9 percent faces limits. Australia’s NBN Co is government-owned and wholesale-only by mandate. RAIA Grid has neither statutory separation nor an ownership ceiling. Its neutrality rests on commercial contracts and the promise made at launch.

The platform is not merely a passive carrier. IFT also announced a $22 million GPU assembly facility near Jakarta, including Purwakarta in West Java, targeting 140 to 150 enterprise units per month using Nvidia’s GB300 architecture. Operations are scheduled for December 2026. That positions RAIA Grid inside Indonesia’s AI hardware supply, not just beneath it.

How an open-access wholesale grid works

A wholesale fiber platform owns the physical layer — terrestrial backbone, domestic submarine cables, and links to towers and homes — but does not sell retail broadband. It offers three products: dark fiber leases for operators who want to light their own equipment, managed bandwidth on specific routes, and high-capacity interconnect between data centers.

Multiple carriers and cloud providers buy capacity from the same neutral owner rather than each digging parallel trenches. In a traditional vertically integrated model, a telco builds fiber mainly for its own customers and sets transit prices for rivals. The wholesale model separates the infrastructure from the services riding on it, which is what makes shared routes to smaller islands economically viable.

The breakdown below separates what RAIA Grid sells from what it promises.

Wholesale fiber governance across four markets
Entity	Current rule	Governance mechanism	Enforcement body
RAIA Grid (Indonesia)	KOMINFO Regulation 5/2021 — equal access to passive infrastructure	Commercial contracts; no specific neutrality rules for wholesale fiber platforms	KOMINFO
Chorus (New Zealand)	Structural separation; ownership caps at 10% without Crown approval; foreign cap 49.9%	Price-quality and information-disclosure regulation	Commerce Commission
NBN Co (Australia)	Government-owned; wholesale-only mandate	Structural separation; retail competition obligations	ACCC
Open Fiber (Italy)	Wholesale-only; regulated access terms	Equivalence-of-input and non-discrimination obligations	AGCOM
Sources: KOMINFO Regulation No. 5/2021; New Zealand MBIE telecommunications framework; NBN Co legislation; EU regulatory framework for Open Fiber

The governance gap that travels with the fiber

Indonesia’s regulatory framework has the skeleton. KOMINFO can require shared access to ducts. It has not built the muscle that comparable markets added once their wholesale platforms scaled. Comparable regulatory frameworks in the EU enforce non-discrimination and equivalence-of-input for dominant networks — a carrier selling wholesale capacity to itself must offer the same terms it gives competitors. Australia mandated structural separation for NBN Co. Indonesia’s 2021 regulation governs poles and conduits, not the data-center interconnect or AI-hardware assembly that RAIA Grid is now layering on top of its fiber.

The global landscape sharpens the stakes. According to TrendForce, Nvidia commands roughly 70 to 80 percent of AI server rack shipments, and the archipelgo’s data center market — valued at $2.81 billion in 2025 — is projected to reach $6.08 billion by 2031. Hyperscalers including Microsoft and DAMAC Digital are expanding capacity in Jakarta. Every additional GPU cluster needs dense, low-latency interconnect, which makes the underlying fiber platform material to investment decisions. The GPU assembly line in Purwakarta, modest as its 150-units-per-month target may be, signals that RAIA Grid intends to occupy more than the plumbing layer.

The honest caveat is that no hyperscaler or carrier has publicly confirmed a commercial agreement with RAIA Grid. Pricing and service-level agreements have not been disclosed. What exists is an 86,000-kilometer network, a launch event, and a governance structure that will be tested the moment the first competitor asks for capacity on the same terms as Indosat.

The Western parallel, with a difference

Australia’s NBN Co and New Zealand’s Chorus offer the closest analogues: wholesale fiber platforms that sell capacity to all retail providers rather than competing for end users. The structural difference is governance. NBN Co is state-owned. Chorus is legally separated from retail, with ownership caps and regulatory oversight on pricing.

RAIA Grid is controlled by a private conglomerate with a direct family link to the presidency and part-owned by an incumbent mobile operator. That combination — political proximity plus commercial interest in a competing network — does not have a clean Western precedent. The question for a hyperscaler evaluating Indonesian infrastructure is not whether the model can work. It is whether the governance can match the architecture.

KOMINFO is expected to issue a formal position on RAIA Grid’s neutrality obligations by late 2026. If the regulator codifies non-discriminatory access, the platform’s promise gains a legal backstop. If it does not, hyperscalers and institutional investors will be relying on private contracts to enforce what structural separation should guarantee. The August 26 launch made the network visible. It did not make its governance settled. That reckoning has been delayed, not avoided.

Beyond the headline

The power behind it

Control over RAIA Grid sits at the intersection of Indonesia’s political elite and a major incumbent carrier, a combination with few Western equivalents. That alignment gives the presidential family and Indosat indirect influence over route priorities and capacity pricing, regardless of contractual neutrality language. For Western capital, the question is whether governance can constrain that influence to infrastructure stewardship rather than market advantage.

The response gap

Indonesia’s policy framework acknowledges the value of shared passive infrastructure. It has not caught up with AI-era wholesale grids that blend fiber, subsea cables, and GPU capacity. Regulators can require open access to ducts but lack codified rules on data-center interconnect, AI hardware, and incumbent stakes in new fiber companies. Until those rules exist, institutional investors and hyperscalers must depend on private contracts, not a mature regulatory backstop.

The reach

For Western cloud and AI providers, the critical mechanism is interconnect between Indonesian GPU clusters and Singapore’s hyperscale hubs. RAIA Grid’s position on domestic fiber and subsea routes means its governance will shape latency, resilience, and cost across that corridor. A neutral grid could lower barriers for US and European firms to base more AI workloads in Indonesia. A platform shaped by incumbent or political interests would push critical traffic onto alternative regional paths.

The platform is real. The terms are not.

With KOMINFO’s neutrality determination expected by late 2026 and no commercial contracts yet confirmed, four groups face distinct decisions before the year ends.

Western Hyperscaler or Data Center Operator in Indonesia
Every additional GPU cluster you deploy in Jakarta needs fiber interconect that is not priced or prioritised by a competitor. Before committing capacity to RAIA Grid, require sight of the wholesale terms Indosat itself receives — and an independent audit clause in your contract. The Nongsa-Changi Cable, landed by Telkom in July 2026, offers an alternative Singapore corridor if RAIA Grid’s governance proves insufficient.
Western Investor in Indonesian Digital Infrastructure
The $2.81 billion data center market and the $6 billion fiber target by 2031 are real. The risk is not demand — it is whether RAIA Grid can attract institutional capital that normally requires structural separation. Watch for KOMINFO’s late-2026 statement. If it codifies non-discrimination with enforcement powers, the platform becomes investible. If it issues only guidance, price the governance gap into your model.
Western Semiconductor Procurement Manager for AI Hardware
RAIA Grid’s Purwakarta facility plans 140 to 150 Nvidia GB300-class GPU units per month from December 2026. That is a small line by global standards, but it is Indonesia’s first domestic assembly for advanced AI accelerators. Qualify it as a secondary source, not a primary one — visit the site, verify Nvidia’s supply agreement, and check whether the output meets your thermal and performance specifications before adding it to your approved-vendor list.
Western Telecommunications Regulator or Policy Professional
RAIA Grid offers a live case study in whether an emerging market can enforce open-access neutrality when the incumbent retains a near-majority stake and ownership runs through the president’s family. Track KOMINFO’s regulatory instrument — if it includes equivalence-of-input rules and an independent monitor, it becomes a replicible model. If it stops at the 2021 passive-infrastructure language, it will serve as a cautionary tale for other developing economies structuring wholesale fiber platforms.

FAQ

When will the GPU assembly facility be operational?

PT Infra Fiber Teknologi’s planned GPU assembly line in the Purwakarta industrial area near Jakarta is targeting a December 2026 start. Company statements describe a ramp-up to approximately 140 to 150 high-end GPU units per month by early 2027, initially focused on Nvidia GB300-class accelerators for enterprise and data-center customers.

Does KOMINFO require RAIA Grid to offer neutral access?

KOMINFO’s Regulation No. 5 of 2021 requires passive infrastructure providers to open access to telecommunications operators on equal terms and prohibits discrimination. The regulation applies to ducts, poles, and related facilities used for fiber deployment. It does not name RAIA Grid specifically, nor does it define detailed behavioral neutrality rules for wholesale fiber platforms that also offer inter-data-center interconnect and AI hardware assembly. A formal regulatory position on RAIA Grid’s specific obligations is expected by late 2026.

How do Chorus and NBN Co enforce neutrality compared to RAIA Grid?

Chorus in New Zealand is structurally separated from retail, with ownership caps requiring Crown approval for stakes above 10 percent and limits on foreign ownership above 49.9 percent. Australia’s NBN Co is government-owned and wholesale-only by legislative mandate. RAIA Grid currently lacks statutory structural separation or ownership ceilings, relying instead on contractual open-access commitments and the general obligations of KOMINFO Regulation 5/2021.

Explainer

RAIA Grid: An 86,000-kilometer wholesale fiber and submarine cable platform launched in Indonesia on August 26, 2026, by PT Infra Fiber Teknologi. The network spans terrestrial backbone, domestic submarine links between major islands, and access connections to mobile towers and fiber-to-the-home deployments. Unlike a retail broadband provider, it sells dark fiber, lit capacity, and inter-data-center interconnect to carriers, cloud platforms, and hyperscalers.
KOMINFO: Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Informatics, responsible for telecommunications regulation including spectrum allocation, infrastructure sharing rules, and digital policy. Its Regulation No. 5 of 2021 mandates that passive infrastructure providers offer equal access to operators without discrimination. The ministry has not yet issued specific neutrality requirements for RAIA Grid’s wholesale fiber platform.
Open-access wholesale fiber: A network model where a single company owns the physical fiber infrastructure — terrestrial cables, submarine links, and local access lines — and sells capacity to multiple retail providers on equal terms. Competitors share the same routes instead of building parallel networks. The physical layer is separated from the services that run on it, which reduces duplicate construction and makes extending fiber to smaller or remote markets economically viable.
Nvidia GB300: A GPU architecture within Nvidia’s Blackwell family, designed for enterprise AI workloads and data-center deployments. TrendForce estimates the Blackwell architecture family accounts for 70 to 80 percent of global AI server rack shipments. RAIA Grid’s planned Purwakarta assembly facility will use GB300-class hardware to produce approximately 140 to 150 enterprise GPU units per month starting in late 2026.
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison: Indonesia’s second-largest cellular carrier, formed through the 2022 merger of Indosat Ooredoo and Hutchison 3 Indonesia. The company held the fiber assets later contributed to RAIA Grid and retained an effective 49.7 percent interest after the July 2026 carve-out transaction. It continues to operate a competing mobile and enterprise network while Citi advised on the monetisation of its fiber holdings.