Sarwoto Atmosutarno, the president director of Indonesia’s largest mobile operator by subscribers Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel), says growth potential in the local market is ‘shrinking’ and will hit a plateau in two year.

Sarwoto Atmosutarno, the president director of Indonesia’s largest mobile operator by subscribers Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel), says growth potential in the local market is ‘shrinking’ and will hit a plateau in two year.

Bloomberg quotes the Telkomsel official as saying he estimates there is growing room of about 35 million new users, and eleven operators are vying for them. ‘We must get at least 15 million’, he went on to say.

The mobile market in Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country with 230 million inhabitants, has expanded to around 165 million users driven by a wave of tariff cutting in an aggressively competitive mobile sector. Telkomsel, which aims to reach 100-million subscribers by the end of 2010, currently has around 85 million customers, up from just 16.3 million users at 31 December 2004. It controls a little over 50% of the market ahead of major rivals Indosat and Excelcomindo, although a plethora of smaller operators exist prompting speculation that the sector is ripe for consolidation.