PT XL Axiata Tbk. ('XL') was established on 8 October 1989, under the name PT Grahametropolitan Lestari. Its main business was in trading and general services.
Six years later, XL took an important step by setting up a partnership with Rajawali Group -a shareholder of PT Grahametropolitan Lestari - and three foreign investors
(NYNEX, AIF and Mitsui). Its name was changed to PT Excelcomindo Pratama, with the provisioning of basic telephony services as its core business.
XL commenced commercial operations in 1996, primarily covering Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya areas. This made XL the first private company in Indonesia to provide
cellular mobile telephony services.
