Boon year for telecommunications<\/p>\n
By I. Christianto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The country's telecommunications industry has
\nshown significant growth in 1994 with the development of various
\nfacilities, including networks and satellites.<\/p>\n
In telephone facility development, for instance, the
\ngovernment has invited the participation of private firms in
\ntelephone line establishment.<\/p>\n
During the current Five Year Development Plan (Repelita VI)
\nperiod, the government has targeted five million new telephone
\nlines, of which three million lines will be installed by the
\nstate-owned domestic telecommunications company, PT
\nTelekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), while the other two million
\nlines will be offered to private companies.<\/p>\n
A total of 12 consortia, comprising of both foreign and
\ndomestic companies and cooperatives, have been selected by the
\ngovernment to install the two million lines, which will be done
\nin various parts of the country other than Jakarta and East Java.<\/p>\n
After the abolition of monopoly in telephone line
\nestablishment under Telecommunications Law No. 3\/1989, it will be
\nthe first time in the country that consortia of private firms are
\ninvited to construct basic telecommunications facilities.
\nPreviously, Telkom just offered a join operation scheme and
\nprofit sharing cooperation.<\/p>\n
Questions, however, have been raised by various parties,
\nasking about the openness of the government in conducting the
\npre-qualification system in selecting the 12 consortia.<\/p>\n
The parties said that the government actually chose 15
\nconsortia in September to take part in the tenders for the
\ninstallation of two million telephone lines but then dropped
\nthree of them for unrevealed reasons.<\/p>\n
Secretary General of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications
\nJonathan Parapak, who chaired the selection team, has been
\nunwilling to explain such an issue, saying that reporters should
\nnot have been involved in their tricks.<\/p>\n
Mobile phones<\/p>\n
In a cellular mobile telephone project, Telkom has developed a
\nGlobal System for Mobile Communications (GSM) cellular
\ntelecommunications system on Batam Island of Riau, which was
\ninaugurated by State Minister of Research and Technology B.J.
\nHabibie in early September.<\/p>\n
Habibie said the rapid development of digital cellular
\ntelecommunications in Indonesia is likely to edge out the
\nincreasingly out-dated analog system.<\/p>\n
The quality of GSM, one of the main leaders in digital
\ncellular mobile telephone systems in the world, is better than
\nthe analog system and the European digital system and therefore
\nwill be applied nationally, Habibie said.<\/p>\n
Such a statement, however, has not caused a rush for the
\npurchase of GSM telephones. Telkom has so far sold only some
\n40,000 lines in Riau, while PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia
\n(Satelindo), a private join venture between Telkom, Indosat and
\nBimantara Group, which also operates a GSM system in Jakarta,
\neven failed to achieve its own target of selling 30,000 lines by
\nthe end of this year.<\/p>\n
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave, in
\nthe meantime, has announced the establishment of a new joint
\ntelecommunication venture which will operate GSM nationally in
\nthe next few years. The operator will be jointly controlled by
\nTelkom and the state's international telephone operator PT
\nIndosat, which has successfully sold its shares both on the
\ndomestic and international stock exchanges.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, existing analog cellular mobile
\ntelecommunications operators said that both the analog and
\ndigital systems will be complementary to subscribers, meaning
\nthat analog system businesses are secure in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
There are currently three analog modes operating in Indonesia,
\nincluding the advanced mobile phone system (AMPS-800) run by PT
\nElektrindo Nusantara in Jakarta, West Java and North Sumatra; by
\nPT Centralindo Pancasakti in Central and East Java; and by PT
\nTelekomindo Prima Bhakti in Bali, South Sulawesi and Kalimantan.
\nPT Rajasa Hasanah Perkasa runs Nordic mobile telephones (NMT-450)
\nin Jakarta and Bandung of West Java, while the other mode is
\nTelkom's total access communications system, whose utilization is
\ndecreasing.<\/p>\n
Joop also said that subscribers still have to pay a big amount
\nof money to get either analog or GSM telephone lines, whose
\nprices are set in Jakarta at a minimum of Rp 4 million each, due
\nto a number of government levies.<\/p>\n
Satellite<\/p>\n
Indonesia will also have the Asian Mobile Satellite System,
\nanother sophisticated mobile telecommunications project using
\nfour satellites called Garuda, to be prepared by PT Pasifik
\nSatelit Nusantara (PSN). The company has finalized the
\nfeasibility study for the system, which will make Indonesia the
\nworld's second user of a mobile geo-stationary satellite
\ntelecommunication system after the United States.<\/p>\n
The feasibility study of the US$900 million project has been
\ncompleted by PSN, Hughes Communications Inc. of the United States
\nand two Singaporean firms.<\/p>\n
Satellites apparently play a major role in the development of
\nthe telecommunications industry, which will in turn accelerate
\nthe growth of the country's economy and improve the well-being of
\nthe population.<\/p>\n
Satelindo, which manages the country's Palapa-C satellites,
\nwill launch Palapa-C 1 in late 1995. A total of 21 firms from
\nnine countries have already reserved the satellite's 34
\ntransponders.<\/p>\n
Indosat has also agreed to participate in an advanced
\nsatellite-base personal mobile communications system arranged by
\nthe International Maritime Satellite Organization (Inmarsat).<\/p>\n
The organization is a leading global mobile satellite
\ncommunications operator, owned by 76 signatories --
\ntelecommunications firms -- all over the world. Indosat, becoming
\na member in 1986, controls a 0.26 stake in Inmarsat, which is
\nbased in London. The long-term $2.6 billion mobile satellite
\nproject will use 12 satellites in the intermediate circular orbit
\nsystem for its space segment.<\/p>\n
Services<\/p>\n
The government said that telecommunication services will be
\nimproved in 1995 as charges for line installation will be
\nlowered.<\/p>\n
In a hearing at the House of Representatives, Parapak said
\nrecently that the government will adjust fees for telephone line
\ninstallations and long distance calls.<\/p>\n
Minister Joop has also warned Telkom to improve its marketing
\nstrategy and service or lose out as the competition gets tougher.<\/p>\n
According to Joop, only 2.5 million out of Telkom's 3.7
\nmillion telephone lines will have been sold by the end of this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Joop also complained that the fiber optic telecommunications
\nsystem linking Jakarta and Surabaya in East Java is poorly
\nutilized. Out of the 11,940 channels provided, only 5,700, or 47
\npercent, have been utilized.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Indosat also faces tight competition with
\nSatelindo in international calls as the latter began offering
\ninternational telephone services three months ago.<\/p>\n
Several star-rated hotels in Jakarta provide only Satelindo's
\ninternational dialing code of 008, instead of the international
\ndirect dialing codes of 001 and 0010 of Indosat.<\/p>\n
Indosat, which does not operate a satellite, will loose the
\ncompetition if such competition continues nationally.<\/p>\n
Indosat has filed a special chapter in the country's history
\nby becoming the first successful state-owned firm offering shares
\nboth in domestic and international stock exchanges. The
\ngovernment will use the $799 million in funds raised from the
\nrecent sales of Indosat's shares through the New York Stock
\nExchange to speed up the repayment of its high-interest loans
\nfrom the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The company
\nraised around Rp 650 billion from the sales of another 10 percent
\nof its shares on the local capital market.<\/p>\n
Telkom, meanwhile, has already been chosen by the government
\nas one of the next state-owned firms which will offer shares
\ninternationally.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/boon-year-for-telecommunications-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}