Indosat in Indonesia is confident its network upgrade and an upcoming IDR2.2 trillion ($181 million) bond issue designed to reduce its forex exposure will enable it to turn around its financial fortunes next year.

Last year the operator, the country’s third largest mobile player with an 18 per cent market share, posted a IDR2.78 trillion net loss, which was primarily due to a IDR3 trillion forex loss. It also reported a net loss of IDR1.11 trillion in the first half of this year (it reissued its H1 results on 6 November.)

The rupiah bond issue scheduled for early December will replace US dollar debt and Islamic bonds, the Jakarta Post said. The company also plans to use the proceeds to refinance $650 million in debt, which is due in 2020. The aim is to cut its US dollar-denominated debt to 50 per cent of its total from the current 75 per cent.

Indosat president director Alexander Rusli said that while it expands capacity to keep up with data demand, revenue could suffer in cities where the network hasn’t been upgraded, the Post said.

He said its network investment in Java has slowed revenue growth and expects 2014 results to be below the industry’s projected 5 per cent growth rate.

The operator, which is a subsidiary of Ooredoo, announced in January it would invest IDR16 trillion over the next two years to increase its network capacity and improve services. In Q2 2014 it added almost 7,000 3G base stations and now has 13,300 (out of a total of 34,000 base stations). Data traffic increased 25 per cent and ARPU rose 1.3 per cent to IDR26,600 in Q2 from the previous quarter.

Rusli said he was confident that the company will return to above-industry growth next year when the network upgrade is completed.

Fitch Rating expects Indosat’s EBITDA margin to narrow to 40-42 per cent from 43.5 per cent last year due to intensifying competition in the data segment.

The company hasn’t released its Q3 earnings.