Upgrading Mobile Network to 5G: The Technoeconomic Analysis of Main Cities in Indonesia

Abstract

The upgrading and deployment of 5G technology in Indonesia requires conscientious planning to meet the traffic requirements as well as to identify the economic feasibility aspects of telecommunications operators. This research was conducted to estimate the data needs in Indonesia, particularly in large cities with large data needs, and also to calculate the techno-economic aspects of deploying 5G networks in Indonesia from 2020 up to 2025. We choose the cities of Jakarta, Surabaya City, and Medan City as the main large cities in Indonesia. The modelling used a method to forecast the number of customers, the traffic needs, and the technology selected, and also simulated capital expenditures (CAPEXs) and operating expedintures (OPEXs) due to network necessity. Based upon the result, the Jakarta traffic demand forecast was 17.6 Gbps per km2; Surabaya City will require 7.8 Gbps per km2, and Medan City will need 6.8 Gbps per km2. With the highest demand, Jakarta will have a CAPEX of k$ 4200, OPEX of k$ 1050 per km2 to meet their needs using 4G LTE-A macro base stations. A CAPEX of k$ 152.4 and an OPEX of k$ 44.4 will also be required for the capital city of 5G mmW base stations. Surabaya City will have a CAPEX of k$ 1920 and an OPEX of k$ 480 to meet their highest demand for 4G LTE-A per km2 and a CAPEX of k$ 76.2 and an OPEX of k$ 22.2 for 5G mmW base stations per km2. Finally, Medan City will have a CAPEX of k$ 1680 and an OPEX of k$ 420 for the highest demand for 4G LTE-A per km2 and a CAPEX of k$ 76.2 and an OPEX of k$ 22.2 to meet highest demand for 5G mmW per km2.