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October 21, 2009

Telkomsel's current tethering option with iPhone 3G

There was no public announcement but Telkomsel sent out a text message to its iPhone 3G customers several weeks ago telling them that the tethering option has changed. Tethering is a way to use your phone as a modem by connecting it to your computer either wirelessly or via a cable.

Yes, the company that couldn't decide how to package the iPhone 3G since it launched the phone back in March this year changed its policy yet again and apparently many new customers aren't aware of it. Then again not many are aware of the tethering option in the first place.

The new policy came with the latest promo package which began sometime before Ramadhan to coincide with the price drop on the 16GB model from 9.5 million to 7.5 million. With the new package, tethering is still optional via sms to 1377 but if you had to pay Rp 87,500 per month before, which gives you an additional 1GB quota for tethering, this offer is no longer available.

Tethering is now available for free and data usage is taken from the 500MB quota you get as the standard package, which if you notice, is the only package available now. There seems to be no more Turbo Plus or Turbo Premium.

Another catch is that the tethering menu in the Settings app may disappear if you upgrade to OS 3.1 or 3.1.2 and decide to use another operator. Your iPhone 3G is unlocked when you restore it to OS 3.0 so you're free to use it with SIM cards from other GSM operators. What they didn't tell you though, is that the tethering menu in Settings app disappears if you use a non-T-sel SIM card. I currently have no information on how to get it back. I'll update this entry once I do.

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Filed under  //   apple   internet   iphone   telkomsel   tethering  

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March 23, 2009

Strange figures re: Indonesian iPhone 3G


Detik reported that while Telkomsel has had 39 thousand pre-orders for its iPhone 3G, it only has 10 thousand units of Apple's phone in stock. While this is typical of initial position of a new product, the other numbers revealed by Telkomsel show that someone isn't that good at maths.

Out of 10 thousand units, four thousand have been earmarked for Jakarta and the other six thousand are intended for Bandung, Surabaya, Medan, and Makassar during Telkomsel's roadshow.

In another article, Telkomsel claimed to have had an average of 2000 people per day over the three day launch. Simple maths say they would have sold six thousand over three days but it's pretty clear that was not the case if they only had allocated 4000 units for Jakarta because that means the phones have been sold out in Jakarta or Telkomsel simply took allocation from other areas, leaving 4000 to be distributed to the other four cities.

I'm not disputing Detik in this case because the numbers come from Telkomsel directly.

In any case, this kind of telecommunications product launch seems to have been a first in Indonesia as there has never been a massive interest in a single product over such a short period for as long as I can remember. Indosat M2's mobile broadband launch comes to mind but it was staggered over several months back in late 2006.

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Filed under  //   apple   indonesia   iphone3g   sales   telkomsel  

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March 22, 2009

Video from Friday's Telkomsel iPhone Launch


 
You can view and download the video I made of the event from vimeo. It's about 30MB, 3 minutes. Not high res because my SonyEricsson doesn't do high res video.

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Filed under  //   indonesia   iPhone3g   telkomsel   video  

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March 22, 2009

Telkomsel iPhone 3G Launch Day

Just some early snapshots at Pacific Place ahead of the launch at 8:00p.m

                                   

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Filed under  //   apple   indonesia   iphone3g   mall   telkomsel  

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March 20, 2009

Telkomsel iPhone 3G Launch Day

Early pictures of iPhone 3G launch day at Pacific Place

   

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Filed under  //   apple   indonesia   iphone3g   mall   telkomsel  

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March 19, 2009

New iPhone 3G postpaid plan from Telkomsel

This morning I received an email from Telkomsel explaining the purchase method for iPhone 3G. From what I read it's not as straight forward as one would expect.

Please note that this may be a customized email for non-Kartu Halo customers, including prepaid Telkomsel and subscribers to other operators.

Prepaid for everyone
So basically everybody is supposed to sign up for the prepaid option initially. Yes, you read it right, everyone sign up for prepaid, which costs Rp. 9.6 million for the 8GB and Rp. 11.2 million for the 16GB. Expensive? Depends on how you see it. This already includes monthly 500MB of data plan from Telkomsel for one year which costs Rp. 125,000 per month according to this table from Telkomsel.

This means the iPhone itself, discounting the data plan costs Rp. 8.1 million for the 8GB and Rp. 9.7 million for the 16GB which is inline with how much the phones cost in Hong Kong, except if you purchase it there it's not locked to any carrier. With Telkomsel the phone is locked.

Naturally, you cannot separate the data plan from the phone. You will get it regardless and you will get a prepaid Simpati number.

Now, what if you want a post paid plan?

After you sign up for a prepaid iPhone 3G, you fill in an application form to be transferred to a post paid plan of your choice. Telkomsel will then assess your credit rating for approval. If you are approved, in 7 working days they will activate your new plan and you will be given double your data allowance.

This means if you choose the Turbo or Turbo Plus plan, your 500MB allowance goes to 1GB, Turbo Premium accounts get 2GB instead of 1GB.

Unfortunately Telkomsel did not make it clear whether this scheme is only for those who buy their iPhone 3G this weekend or if it's also applicable to those who purchase from Monday. Hopefully more confirmation will come before 8:00 p.m today.

This is also rather sneaky on their part because this new email basically says your only option is to pay 9 or 11 million up front. 

If you have an existing Telkomsel number (Kartu Halo, Simpati, or even As), you can transfer your iPhone 3G plan to your current number by sending an sms from your new number to 1377. Type: transfer 081xxxxxxxxx where 081xxxxxxxxx is your current number.

This seems to mean that your Simpati number will have to be activated first. I will try to confirm this today.

Don't forget, anyone in Jakarta can come and be part of the launch event today from 8:00p.m at One Pacific Place, Sudirman CBD. People are going to be lining up well before that. I'll be on the scene probably from 5:00 p.m for the live tweet.

Follow the live tweet at http://twitter.com/aulia

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Filed under  //   apple   indonesia   iphone3g   telkomsel  

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March 18, 2009

Indosat to sell next model iPhone?


This Detik article mentioned that Indosat already holds an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) regarding iPhone 3G. Teguh Prasetya, Head of Marketing and Branding at Indosat claims that despite having signed an agreement, Indosat has decided to take the wait and see approach regarding iPhone 3G because the device is no longer the hot gadget as when it was released back in July last year.


When Apple launches its next iPhone model, it surely will be the next hot item next to Palm Pre, although the Pre won't be available outside the US market initially, just like the iPhone back in 2007. Will Indosat then finally decide to join Telkomsel in selling the iPhone? Will their HSDPA network issue be overcome by that time? 

With 500 thousand customers in their HSDPA network and practically not much room to expand, it's unlikely Indosat will dare to offer the next iPhone unless they somehow managed to gain new allocation from the government to expand their capacity. iPhone customers around the world are already renowned for being data guzzlers and adding Apple's phone will do nothing but increase the strain on Indosat's already ailing mobile broadband services.

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Filed under  //   apple   indosat   iphone   rumor   telkomsel  

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March 12, 2009

Telkomsel iPhone 3G launch info

Telkomsel will launch the iPhone 3G at the following location and times.

Jam penjualan di Pavilion-South Entrance, Pacific Place

20 Maret 2009 : 08:00 PM – 00:00 AM (Midnight)
21 Maret 2009 : 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
22 Maret 2009 : 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM


More information available at Telkomsel website

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Filed under  //   apple   indonesia   iPhone3G   telkomsel  

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March 12, 2009

iPhone 3G pricing from Telkomsel

Breaking news!

Sent from my mobile

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February 24, 2009

Email from Telkomsel re: iPhone 3G

Everybody who signed up for iPhone 3G from Telkomsel would have gotten this email below, this afternoon.
 
I wouldn't have minded the lack of proper English in this email which looked like it was translated directly from the Indonesian version, but seeing the name at the bottom makes for a rather interesting thought.

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Filed under  //   apple   indonesia   iphone3g   telkomsel  

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