| 18 Mar 2013 23:23 ET |  |
Macquarie Equity Research said the recent launch of BlackBerry's new Z10 model in Indonesia will help boost data revenue of telecommunication firms. "Data now accounts for 20 percent of industry revenues, which we expect will grow conservatively by 25-30 percent in 2013, effectively driving 65 percent of industry growth of 8-9 percent. The successful launch of smartphones provides upside to estimates," analyst Riaz Hyder said in a note on Tuesday. The research note said industry feedback suggested the initial reaction to Z10 was strong, with unit sales expected to reach 100,000 over the next six months. "Leading retailer Erajaya has already sold almost all of its 19,000 units allocated and is trying to secure additional stock. Rising smartphone adoption (currently around 15 percent) is a key driver for our positive sector thesis." Indonesia's biggest cellular provider Telkomsel, a unit of PT Telkom, expects its BlackBerry subscriber base to grow to 40 percent in 2013 while Indosat has the most aggressive data pricing among major operators, with 11 rupiah per megabyte (MB), the note said. However, the research house said it is concerned about the operators' ability to cope with accelerating data usage although capex intensity is likely to remain high in the medium term as operators ramp up 3G coverage. Shares of Indosat rose 2.42 percent to 6,350 rupiah while Telkom shares were up 0.95 percent at 10,600 rupiah. Erajaya shares rose 0.78 percent to 3,225 rupiah. The broader index was up 0.57 percent. 0958 (0258 GMT) |