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Satellite antenna knocked askew knocks 6K Indonesian ATMs offline

August 30, 2017

A satellite on the blink caused the outage of thousands of ATMs and e-payment devices in Indonesia last weekend, and it could be two weeks before service is fully restored, according to a Reuters report.

A shift in the antenna position on the Telkom-1 satellite operated by Indonesia's state-owned telecom provider affected more than 15,000 ground sites, the report said. 

This included approximately 5,700 ATMs operated by Bank Central Asia, Indonesia's largest bank by market value. That number represents about one-third of the bank's total ATM fleet and slightly less than 6 percent of Indonesia's approximately 100,000 ATMs, Reuters said. 

Additionally, state-controlled Bank Rakyat Indonesia lost communication with approximately 300 ATMs, some of which are now back in service.