TelkomGroup, Telin Emphasize on Importance of Partnerships for OTTs

As Alfred A. Montaper once said, “All Lasting Business is Built on Friendship”, meaning that partnership is crucial for business. The right business partnerships will enhance a company’s ethos and benefit it.

In order to improve the ability to build good partnerships and collaboration with partners, TelkomGroup held a Partnership Seminar entitled “Digital Over the Top (OTT) Players: It's Time to Engage” on Wednesday, September 8th, 2021. CEO TelkomGroup, Ririek Adriansyah, CSO TelkomGroup, Budi Setyawan Wijaya, and CEO Telin, Budi Satria Dharma Purba (Busat) all spoke at the event, which also featured guest panelists Aqua Net CEO Fabrizio Civitarese and Orient Link Lmited CMO Rozaimy. The event was attended by around 430 participants, which consisted of TelkomGroup Senior Leaders.

Budi Setyawan delivered an opening speech welcoming the participants. He explained that the OTT business is not new, especially for digital telco players. This business can be used as an example to develop a business model that can be offered to customers in order to increase engagement.

Afterward, Ririek conveyed his remarks by saying, “We need to be responsive and maintain good communication with partners. A good partnership is not done once it is put in the contract, it ends when the joint committee has delivered. In the future, we will form a team for global partnership. We want everyone in the company to understand and open up your thinking regarding this matter.”

He also emphasized that in the public, TelkomGroup is perceived as an attractive company because it has various advantages in Indonesia, such as its wide network and abundant customer base. So, all individuals in TelkomGroup should leverage these perceptions when establishing partnerships.

The event continued with a presentation from Busat titled “How to Deal with Global Players: Insights from Telin’s Practical Experiences.” Busat explained, “Telin plays a role in fronting and catalyzing strategic collaboration with global players. Winning a global deal involves a lot of understanding and consideration. If we are known to be a good company, OTTs are usually happy to collaborate in the hopes of advancing their business. From Telin's practical experience, there are 6 steps to tactical play. First, be trustworthy. Second, set the goal. Third, do your homework. Forth, pick and play your cards. Fifth, nurturing informal discussions are also important. Last, deliver your words”.

Busat then moderated a discussion with the guest panelists, Fabrizio and Rozaimy. In this session, the panelists shared their experience on how to negotiate with the OTT players. They also gave some useful tips on the do’s and dont’s when dealing with OTT players.