Over the last few days, there had been advertisements for @me (atme) on TV. While it offers little information, @me promises freebies related to phone calls, SMS, and sticker service between its users. Based on what we discovered, there may be a link between @me at a mobile operator.
As broadcast on its website and YouTube channel, @me claims to offer several free services, including free local and international calls and free SMS to all Indonesian operators. Additionally, for fellow @me users, it offers free calls, chat, as well as hundred of stickers. The service is said to be available on Android and iOS platforms and those interested may sign up for pre-registration online on @me’s website.
With what little information it makes available, it makes us wonder who is behind this service. The fact that @me can afford to place ads on television as well as having the ability to bypass mobile operators means it must be affiliated to one of the major network carriers. Question is who?
According to our lookup, @me website has btel.net.id nameserver which is affiliated with Bakrie Telecom. Moreover, according to the Atme Indonesia Facebook page, they have had two likes in which one of them was given by Atme Indo. This profile claims that he works at Bakrie Telecom and had studied at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.
Although the information is not 100% valid, it’s not that difficult to associate the seemingly disruptive @me with a cellular operator, whose business should be disturbed by this kind of service. However, given the fact that digital services business and data trend which currently become new cellular operators’ source of income, such as Indosat with its Dunia Digital and XL with its Digital Services, it would not be a surprise if Bakrie Teleco is looking for ways to revolutionize the way we communicate through the use of Internet technologies and save itself from the declining traditional telecommunications business.
We will provide further information regarding @me as they come along.
