After years of speculation and hoping, the world’s most popular video subscription platform is now available on services under Indonesia’s largest telco.
Finally!
State-owned Telkom is reportedly unblocking Netflix on its home internet service Indihome and mobile internet service Telkomsel, with customers going on an absolute frenzy on social media, exclaiming that they now have access to the long-coveted platform which has always been available to everyone else in Indonesia.
https://twitter.com/heirsangel/status/1280405883587969024?s=20
https://twitter.com/bluebrendz/status/1280401850953396228?s=20
For my Tsel and indihome friends now we can enjoy netflix without VPN 😭😭😭👌🏻👌🏻 pic.twitter.com/11vX98cQYm
— scènique ✨📌 (@mysceni) July 7, 2020
We have indeed found this to be true on our Telkom-connected devices. However, it appears Telkom is in the midst of rolling out access for Netflix, as some customers report that they still can’t get on the platform.
This is not a temporary glitch as Telkom has confirmed the news.
“Telkom appreciates the approach Netflix took to enter the Indonesian market, and that’s why we are giving the chance for Telkom customers to access its variety of [shows and movies],” Telkom Corporate Communications VP Arif Prabowo said in an official statement today.
Since Netflix became available in Indonesia in 2016, the video streaming platform has remained unavailable to a large number of Indonesians — specifically, Telkom customers who subscribe to the company’s home internet service Indihome, mobile internet service Telkomsel, and/or its public Wi-Fi service Wifi.id.
While Telkom said the block was based on censorship grounds, many suspected that it was only trying to protect its own business interests through partner streaming platforms such as Singapore-based Hooq, which was shut down in late April, and KL-based iFlix, which was recently purchased by Chinese internet giant Tencent.
In early June, Telkom CEO Ririek Adiansyah hinted that the unblocking might happen this year.
“If they want to change to be more compliant with the regulations, especially on their content and take-down policy, and also want to empower local content producers then we’re ready to open [access to] Netflix on Indihome and Telkomsel. There has been progress in that direction, we only need to find the juncture,” Ririek said at that time.
Telkomsel CEO Setyanto Hantoro later followed up on Ririek’s statement by saying that Netflix has more or less fulfilled the aforementioned requirements with recent updates to the streaming platform, such as improved parental controls.
It remains to be seen if Netflix will be under more stringent censorship standards now that it’s available on Telkom. For the sake of Telkom customers who want to see what the fuss over 365 Days is all about, we hope not.
