XL Axiata Boss Talks About Fulfilling Employee Rights Ahead of the XL-Smartfren Merger

When asked about the long process of the related merger approval from the government, Dian said that from the experience of XL Axiata’s acquisition of Axis which occurred several years ago, the longest process was resolving problems regarding the frequency spectrum owned by the two merged companies.

“So how much spectrum can be kept and how much must be returned, I’m sure yesterday IOH (merger of Indosat Ooredoo with Hutchison 3 Indonesia) was also the biggest issue yesterday, in terms of permits from the Minister of Communication and Information regarding spectrum,” said Dian.

According to Dian, regulations regarding the frequency spectrum that can be owned by the merged company are the biggest factor in whether this process can run.

“Because if we look, the biggest synergy comes from the spectrum. If too much spectrum has to be returned, it will reduce the synergy we get,” Dian explained.