Industri telekomunikasi seluler berbasis GSM yang terlebih dahulu telah berkembang pesat di Indonesia, semakin diramaikan dengan masuknya telekomunikasi berbasis CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). Perkembangan CDMA dimulai ketika Telkom memperkenalkan Flexi pada Desember 2002 dan secara komersial diluncurkan Mei 2003. Flexi merupakan layanan telepon tetap nirkabel alias FWA (Fixed Wireless Access). Dua pesaing utama Flexi yang juga memiliki izin FWA adalah Esia dari Bakrie Telecom dan StarOne dari Indosat. CDMA semakin disukai oleh masyarakat disebabkan karena beberapa keunggulannya dibandingkan dengan GSM, yaitu selain karena tarif yang lebih murah, CDMA juga memiliki kelebihan dalam kejernihan suara, peningkatan call security, dan kecepatan transfer data.Semakin disadari, bahwa industri ini sangat menjanjikan dan menarik banyak operator baru untuk terjun didalamnya. Selain itu pula terjadi persaingan yang ketat antara operator CDMA yang telah ada sebelumnya dalam memperebutkan pangsa pasar. Untuk itulah Telkom Flexi harus lebih memperhatikan strategi perusahaan dalam pengelolaan aset, menangkap peluang yang ada, dan meminimalkan dampak ancaman, sehingga dapat mempertahankan keunggulan bersaing di tengah-tengah iklim persaingan yang semakin ketat.Demi mencapai tujuan tersebut, dilakukan analisis eksternal dan analisis kompetitif industri telekomunikasi CDMA di Indonesia. Analisis sumber daya dan kemampuan internal perusahaan yang dimiliki Telkom Flexi juga dilakukan, sehingga didapat kapabilitas dan kompetensi yang dimiliki Flexi sebagai keunggulan kompetitifnya di tengah-tengah kompetisi antar operator CDMA.Dengan informasi yang di dapat, Telkom Flexi dapat menyusun strategi yang dapat memanfaatkan peluang, mengantisipasi ancaman dari industri, dan sesuai dengan keunggulan kompetitif dalam industri dengan mempertimbangkan kekuatan dan kelemahan Flexi yang ada. Sehingga, Flexi dapat lebih mengoptimalkan potensi yang ada untuk mempertahankan posisinya sebagai markel leader di antara para operator CDMA di Indonesia.Kekuatan Fiexi yang di dapat dari hasil analisis internal terutama adalah kemudahan untuk mendapatkan pinjaman modal, memiliki ragam fitur layanan yang lebih banyak, memiliki pangsa pasar terbesar di industri CDMA, serta memiliki cakupan jaringan CDMA terluas di Indonesia. Sedangkan kelemahan Flexi adalah ketergantungan terhadap basis pelanggan pra bayar, tren penurunan average revenue per user (ARPU), dan pangsa pasar yang rendah di Divre II dan Divre III.Hasil analisis industri telekomunikasi CDMA di Indonesia di antaranya memperlihatkan beberapa peluang bagi Flexi, yaitu adanya potensi pangsa pasar yang potensial di kawasan timur Indonesia, tren pengguna layanan telekomunikasi CDMA yang masih meningkat, dan pertumbuhan bisnis konten. Ancaman yang ada bagi Flexi diantaranya adalah ancaman krisis ekonomi dan pertumbuhan jumlah pelanggan yang lebih renah dibanding operator CDMA lain.Berdasarkan informasi dari temuan yang ada, tampaknya strategi yang perlu dilakukan oleh Telkom Flexi adalah memaksimalkan potensi pasar di kawasan timur Indonesia, memberikan fitur layanan yang disukai dan murah bagi pelanggan, memaksimalkan jumlah pemakaian akses internet, meningkatkan kualitas layanan, dan melakukan strategi promosi khusus untuk menarik pelanggan pasca bayar.

---

The GSM based telecommunication industry which has been developing quite greatly in Indonesia, is generally being growing with the introduction of the CDMA based telecommunication. The growth of CDMA based telecommunication was started by Telkom, by the introduction of Telkom Flexi on the December of 2002 which then commercially launched on May of 2003. Telkom Flexi is one of Telkom’s subsidiaries, which works on developing an FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) cellular based telecommunication for Telkom. There are two main competitors for Telkom Flexi’s Service, Esia from Bakrie Telecom and StarOne from Indosat, which also have the license to develop FWA telecommunication. Right now, CDMA is getting known to the public due to several of its advantages compared to GSM based telecommunication, which included low tariffs, clear reception of voice, heightened call security, and also increase in data transfer speed.

Nowadays, many companies realized the opportunities in investing on telecommunication industry, because of that many new companies enters this promising new industry. But nevertheless, there’s already a tight competition to get the biggest share of the pie among the CDMA operator Services which already has entered the market That is why Telkom Flexi should pay more attention to the corporate strategy they already set in maintaining their assets, in capturing the opportunities that exists, and also in minimizing the upcoming threat from the new competitors, so that Telkom Flexi could maintain their competitive advantage amidst the growing competition of telecommunication industry.

In order to achieve it, Telkom Flexi should do an analysis of external and internal factors that builds up the CDMA based telecommunication and also an industry-wide competitive analysis of CDMA telecommunication. The point of this analysis is for Telkom Flexi to realize their capabilities and competency they had amongst the competition with other CDMA service providers.

With the attained information, Telkom Flexi could develop a strategy that will provide a better solution to help achieve better opportunities, anticipate the new Corning threat from the industry, and also to realize the strength and weakness of their company. This will help Telkom Flexi to have an increased competitive advantage in the industry while optimizing the potential that it had, to retain the position as the market leader in the CDMA based telecommunication industry in Indonesia.

From the internal analysis that had been done, the strengths that Telkom Flexi had mainly are the easiness to attain Capital loan, have a large option of features in their service, currently had the biggest market share in the industry, and have the biggest network of CDMA in Indonesia. On the contrary, their weaknesses are their dependency on the prepaid-based customers, a down-trend of average revenue per user (ARPU), and a low market share in Divre II and Divre m in Indonesia.

The result of the industry-wide analysis of CDMA based telecommunication indicated several opportunities that could be captured by FIexi, which are large potential of market in the eastern region of Indonesia, the country-wide increase in the usage of CDMA based telecommunication, and also the growth of CDMA based content provider business. Besides the opportunity, there are also threats that should be looked out for by Telkom Flexi, which are the oncoming threat of economy crisis and the low growth of customer compared to other CDMA Service provider.

Based on all above information, it looks like the strategy that Telkom Flexi should do is to maximize the potential market in the eastern region of Indonesia, give more features which is cheap and could attract customers, maximize usage of internet access, increase their service quality, and prepare a promotion plan to attract more postpaid customers.