07 January 2019

INDONESIA - Indonesia’s largest bank, state-owned BRI (Bank Rakyat Indonesia), will use Hughes’ JUPITER high-throughput platform to power services over its satellite. 

BRIsat was launched in 2016. Hughe’s JUPITER system will now be used to enable reliable connectivity for banking applications across Indonesia.

photo: arianepsace

The bank is the first to own and operate its own satellite which was launched by Arianespace in 2016 (see World News, May-Jun 2016 issue).

Orbiting at 150.5ºE, BRIsat offers C- and Ku-band services across Indonesia, South East and North East Asia.

It is part of BRI’s strategic plan to strengthen supporting infrastructure for future digital services and banking technology across the Indonesian archipelago.

JUPITER provides the bank with an enterprise grade WAN to connect tens of thousands of sites.

Hughes says its gateway provides a single platform that is compatible with both C- and Ku-band satellite capacity, resulting in what it claims is “enhanced” operational efficiencies and bandwidth utilisation. 

The firm adds that its solution also incorporates redundant primary and secondary gateways to deliver 99.9 per cent availability, ensuring BRI can serve more customers in Indonesia with the reliability and quality necessary for critical banking needs. 

Following a competitive bidding process, Hughes says it was selected by BRI for having the highest performing terminals supporting up to 300Mbps of throughput, along with the multi-service capabilities necessary for future scalability.

“We required a solution with high reliability, efficiency and scalability to enable branch- and mobile-based business and consumer banking applications across Indonesia,” says Meiditomo Sutyarjoko, head of BRI’s satellite and terrestrial division.

“Hughes will connect BRI sites and more than 50 million customers throughout Indonesia.”

The vendor expects to fulfil the initial order for two gateways and several hundred sites by the end of this year.