Indonesia's largest service provider, PT Telkom through one of its international operation arms, Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telkom USA), has reached a deal to aquire GTA Teleguam from Japanese private equity firm Advantage Partners. Once the sale closes, GTA will become part of Telkom’s portfolio of international operations. The acquisition is intended to strengthen Telkom’s portfolio of international operations which include Telin Singapore, Telin Hong-Kong, Telkom Australia, Telkom Taiwan, Telkom USA, Telin Malaysia, Telkom Macau, Telin Timor-Leste and a branch in Myanmar.
Telkom and GTA have had a relationship for more than a year now, stemming from their partnership in the South East Asia United States (SEA-US) submarine cable system. The two are part of a consortium working to build capacity to meet the growing demand for bandwidth between Southeast Asia and North America. GTA has been able to retain the local management and local Guam culture despite the foreign ownership over the past ten years, added to a statement by Telkom.
Honesti Basyir, Chief Marketing Officer, Wholesale and International Business, Telkom
We are very excited to bring GTA into the Telkom family of international operations. Guam is a very interesting market and a great fit for our international footprint. It has one of the highest GDP per capita among Asian markets with well-educated workforce pool, and is a great adopter of new mobile and fixed technology. And because of its geographically strategic location with most of submarine cables from Asia to US landing in Guam, in line with Telkom’s intentions to become a new global hub. Our involvement in the SEA-US cable project gave us an opportunity to get to know GTA quite well.
Robert Haulbrook, President and CEO, GTA
After 10 years of private-equity ownership, I believe this is a good time to transition the company to a successful international telecommunications firm such as Telkom. Since our privatization in 2005, employees have successfully transformed GTA into a rapidly growing company with a reputation for excellence in landline, mobile and Internet products. They brought new services for Guam customers, including the launch of 3G and 4G LTE networks, the Apple iPhone, digital TV services, and investments into its fiber optic network.
