JAKARTA (Yosefardi) – PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk (FREN) will take loan of US$71.1 million, equivalent to Rp853.2 billion, from First Anglo Financial Pte Ltd, used to fund the payment of frequency spectrum fee amounting Rp500 billion to Rp1 trillion.
FREN had ammended loan facility agreement with Anglo in October 1, 2014, changing the loan size to US$120 million and its maturity is extended to November 30, 2015. As of September 2014, FREN’s liability totalled Rp13.07 trillion.
The company is now seeking US$240-400 million loan from banks to fund the migration of its 1,900 MHz frequency spectrum to 2.3 GHz and changing the technology to time division duplex (TDD) from current FDD.