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Indonesia's House of Representatives has passed amendments to the controversial Electronic Information and Transactions Law to reduce penalties and set more clear definitions.

The strict law lays out tough penalties including jail time for online defamation and “online intimidation,” and has provoked controversy on multiple occasions due to its use to stifle what is seen as legitimate speech.

The new amendments set a definition of what constitutes defamation to prevent a loose interpretation of the law, the Jakarta Globe reported.

Additionally the revisions reduce jail time for defamation to four from six years, and for online intimidation to four from 12.

The amendments also introduce a “right to be forgotten” - giving courts the ability to request the deletion of certain online information.

In terms of enforcement the revisions include new regulation governing how state authorities should investigate internet-related crimes, and synchronize procedures on confiscation, seizure, arrest and detention with Indonesia's criminal law.

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Sri Lanka's Dialog Axiata has reported a 19% increase in revenue for the first nine months of the year to 64 billion rupees ($430.9 million) as a result of a temporary suspension of value-added tax (VAT) and strong growth momentum across the operator's business.

Net profit for the period grew 71% to 7.8 billion rupees as a result of improving profit margins and significantly lower forex losses.

Dialog Axiata increased its mobile subscriber base by 10% year-on-year to 11.3 million, mostly from prepaid services. The company also recorded 43,000 net additions to its subscription TV service.

Broadband revenue for the nine-month period grew 27% to 6.76 billion rupees, but the broadband segment recorded a net loss of 62 million rupees due to aggressive fixed LTE and fiber expansion.

Total group capex for the nine months reached 12.7 billion rupees, with the high-speed broadband investments dominating spending.

Blended ARPU grew 3.8% during the third quarter to 406 rupees, while average minutes of use edged up by 1 minute to 133.

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The Philippines' telecoms regulator NBTC plans to hold a spectrum auction for a third entrant into the mobile market in mid-2017.

The spectrum surrendered by incumbents Globe and PLDT as a condition of their acquisition of San Miguel's telecoms assets will be bundled together for the auction, Rappler reported.

According to the report, spectrum in the 700-MHz, 2500-MHz, 800-MHz and 3500-MHz bands will be put on the block.

Several groups have already expressed an interest in potentially participating in an auction to create a third operator. Conglomerate San Miguel had originally intended to fulfil this role, but negotiations with Australia's Telstra to form a joint venture for the purpose fell through earlier this year.

San Miguel subsequently sold off all its telco assets to the two incumbent operators for around $1.5 billion. The main motivation was to gain a part of the 700-MHz spectrum band, which San Miguel held the exclusive rights to.

But as a condition of the acquisition Globe and PLDT were required to relinquish part of the 700-MHz band - as well as spectrum in the 850-MHz, 2500-MHz and 3500-MHz bands - to allow for the potential entry of a third competitor.

Advocacy groups have expressed concern that the bundle of spectrum due to be put up for auction will not be enough to sustain a major third player, noting that PLDT and Globe between them own nearly 80% of the total available spectrum. Parts of the remaining 20% will be unusable due to the presence of guard bands.

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