Indonesia is divided when it comes to on demand streaming service. Netflix, enjoying a stronger market in Indonesia, is halted by Telkomsel. (Image via Kompas Tekno)

Actually, cooperation with Netflix is not that difficult: Indosat

One of the major mobile network operators in Indonesia, Indosat Ooredoo, said that cooperation with over-the-top (OTT) service provider companies is not that hard. Vice President of Head of Digital Lifestyle at Indosat Ooredoo, Rasyefki Sultani made that statement on Monday.

Speaking at Strategic Partnership HOOQ & IM3 Ooredoo in Sudirman, Rasyeni also mentioned the polemic between streaming service Netflix and Telkomsel still far from the word “deal”. He said that Indosat maintains a good relationship with its OTT partners all along.

Rasyefki said that the problem usually lingers on the access.

Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Johnny G. Plate, had asked PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) and Netflix to discuss the matter together to settle the restriction on the streaming service.

Previously, Telkomsel already dived into the video-on-demand service by launching MAXstream app in 2016, offering thousands of films and TV series from Indonesian channels. MAXstream offers three channel categories: Local, Basic, and Premium.

However, of course, the on-demand service was outwitted by already-established Netflix.

Johnny said that the restriction already entered the business-to-business sector accounting for the profit and loss of a company. The Minister believed that without any intervention, Telkom and Netflix will find a way to settle the matter.

Considering Telkom’s ban on Netflix due to envy, Rasyefki said that Indosat prefers cooperation with the streaming service to making a similar one. There are two reasons for that: first, making a streaming service costs a lot. And, second, there are already a lot of streaming services out there.

Regarding Indosat’s plan to overtake Telkomsel on collaborating with Netflix, Rasyefski said that it has not been discussed yet.

Source: https://bit.ly/36xP5nw