Indonesia's Telkom eyes acquisitions in SE Asia

* Looking for acquisitions in Asia as sees home mkt maturing

* Capital expenditure in 2011 seen steady at $2 bln

JAKARTA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (TLKM), Indonesia's biggest phone firm, said on Thursday it is looking at acquisitions in Southeast Asia as it sees its domestic market maturing.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, has become one of the world's most crowded telecommunications markets, with 11 operators fighting for custom in a population of 237 million.

"Telkom is looking for acquisition opportunities in Southeast Asia, including mobile phone providers as our market is starting to mature," said CEO Rinaldi Firmansyah.

"We need a new market but we will not go to Africa.. It's too far...But in Asia we're open for any acquisition possibilities," he said on the sidelines of a conference.

Telkom, which rarely comments on regional expansion, tried last year to acquire a stake in Iran Telecom but failed as it lacked backing from Indonesia's government.

Firmansyah did not say how big the firm's warchest would be, but said earlier on Thursday that it sees capital expenditure in 2011 at about $2 billion. "We see the same capex for next year at about $2 billion to finance our infrastructure projects as well as maintenance," said Firmansyah.

Telkom needs to invest heavily in telecoms infrastructure such as towers, and is also shifting its focus to data services to earn higher profits as Indonesian subscriber growth slows. Source: Reuters