The Knowledge to Decide

As payment transactions become digitalized, it is crucial to ensure digital financial services are accessible to the poor at affordable rates and in a scalable manner. Recognizing this need, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) organized a workshop on ‘Digital Financial Services and Financial Inclusion’ for ITU member states, ICT regulators and Financial Service providers from across the globe to discuss key industry trends, opportunities and challenges at the ITU headquarters in Geneva. Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Spire Research and Consulting group, was honored to be a part of the workshop. In his presentation, Bahar highlighted initiatives by the Indonesian Government and the private sector to implement bulk payment services for beneficiaries. Bahar mentioned the Government to People (G2P) Payment option for Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) – the Family Hope Program – where beneficiaries are entitled to cash grants from the government

Malaysian telco edotco’s launch in Bangladesh underlines its seriousness in becoming a regional leader in telecom infrastructure. Spire collaborated on a major Customer Satisfaction Survey which found that edotco Bangladesh was indeed among the top preferred local infrastructure providers. The findings of the survey were also highlighted on TowerXchange’s website. The launch of edotco Bangladesh underline’s edotco’s interest in Bangladesh’s rapidly growing telecommunication market. The launch has involved partnerships with local telecom operators, in line with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s (BTRC) infrastructure sharing agreement. Spire’s survey covered edotco’s customer base which consists of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Non-MNOs. Consumers’ were questioned on perceptions of the quality of services and network availability, as well as maintenance of non-telecom equipment such as batteries, towers, cooling systems and electricity transmiss

Satellite technology is gaining ground in Asia. Asia-Pacific satellite telecommunications revenues hit USD 2.9 billion in 2014 – a quarter of global revenue. Japnit Singh, Senior Director for Singapore and India of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights on this growing industry with China Daily – Asia Weekly. Whether it is commuters in Hong Kong’s subway reading their daily news on smartphones or farmers across rural regions in Asia using mobile phones for banking, ordering fertilizer or selling crops, satellite-based data transmission has penetrated everyday life. With the rise of the middle-class in Southeast Asia (SEA), demand for more digital content on phones, home TV screens and at offices is skyrocketing. The demand for satellites is coming both from emerging markets such as Myanmar and Cambodia as well as more mature markets such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Singh highlighted that Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite broadcasting is set to drive growth for Asi

With the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) due this year, competition in the IT industry is set to intensify. Will Indonesia’s IT sector thrive under these conditions? Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in Kompas News – a leading newspaper in Indonesia. Personal computer (PC) shipments, tablet computers, ultra-mobile and mobile phones are expected to reach global sales of 2.5 billion units in 2015 – a rise of 3.9% in comparison to 2014. While PCs are still growing in developed markets such as the US, weak growth of PC’s in developing markets is attributed to strong demand for smartphones and table computers. Nonetheless, the IT industry in Indonesia will continue to charge ahead. Bahar highlighted that the highest sales in Indonesia are seen in tablet computers and smart phones. Within ASEAN, Indonesia offers the greatest market opportunities for consumer IT. The nation is expected to reac

Telkom Indonesia – one of the largest telecommunications services company in Indonesia – hosted its annual Telkom Supplier Award on 20th November 2014 at Bandung, Indonesia. The award ceremony gathered Telkom’s subsidiary, partner companies and suppliers. Spire Research and Consulting was awarded second place in the Best consultant category at Telkom Supplier Award for the fourth time. The token of appreciation was received by Erwin Widjaja, Country Director, Indonesia of Spire Research and Consulting in the presence of Honesti Basyir, Financial Director of Telkom. Spire is delighted to be the continual recipient of this prestigious award and commits to uphold the highest quality of research and consulting outputs for its clients. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-celebrates-fourth-year-of-success-at-telkom-supplier-award-2014/

Mobile and digital banking are now the drivers of rural banking. Many banks in South East Asia are intensively reaching out to the rural unbanked population. Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his views on this growing industry trend in FST Media. Bahar observed that many banks in Indonesia are now targeting the unbanked. Only about a quarter of the Indonesian population has access to traditional banking services. Besides, with Indonesia’s mobile phone usage running at over a 100 per cent penetration rate, it is natural for banks to offer mobile financial solutions to the unbanked. To better target this market, some banks are partnering with microfinance institutions to enable the unbanked to sign up for a bank account the paperless way. These institutions would then help users to conduct banking transactions via their mobile devices. Indonesia’s central bank, Bank Indonesia, has launched a pilot program, ‘Mobile Payment S