Cellular operators lack funds<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Delay in response time, interrupted connections
\nand blank spot areas in cellular telephone services are likely to
\noccur more frequently as most operators have significantly cut
\nspending on quality improvement.<\/p>\n
Sources said that some cellular operators have even moved
\nimportant transmission components from one place to another
\nbecause they have not been able to buy new ones.<\/p>\n
The secretary-general of the Indonesian Cellular Telephone
\nAssociation (APTI), YW Junardy, said several operators had to
\nsacrifice their services in less productive areas in a bid to
\nmaintain their operations in more productive locations.<\/p>\n
\"They took components or infrastructure from less productive
\nareas and used them to replace defective equipment in productive
\nareas,\" he said over the weekend.<\/p>\n
The relocations have degraded coverage and services in the
\nless productive areas, he said.<\/p>\n
Junardy refused to reveal the areas where improper relocation
\nof facilities had taken place.<\/p>\n
But a reliable source in the industry, who asked for
\nanonymity, said an Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) operator
\nhad cut down its coverage in Central Sulawesi, while a Global
\nSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) was forced to do the same
\nwith its network operation in North Sumatra.<\/p>\n
There are currently seven cellular phone network providers in
\nthe country, serving three systems: the Advanced Mobile Phone
\nSystem (AMPS), the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)
\nand the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system. They serve around
\n900,000 active cellular phone users.<\/p>\n
Rudiantara, director for customer service and corporate
\naffairs of GSM operator Excelcomindo Pratama, admitted that his
\ncompany was forced to relocate some equipment, and did not
\nprovide replacement equipment for the area it was taken from.<\/p>\n
He said the company had taken a Base Transceiver Station (BTS)
\nfrom a remote area in Central Java to replace a BTS in Malang,
\nEast Java, which was destroyed by lightning earlier this month.<\/p>\n
\"We were forced to do so because there is no way for us to buy
\nnew equipment,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Junardy said the cellular phone industry is now facing
\nfinancial hardships due to the decline in cellular usage to an
\naverage of Rp 190,000 per user per month in 1998, from up to Rp
\n250,000 per user per month in 1997.<\/p>\n
The average subscriber usage would continue decreasing to
\nbelow Rp 160,000 per month this year, he said.<\/p>\n
Junardy said the industry was also badly affected by the
\ndepreciation of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar in late 1997,
\nbecause about 20 percent of operational maintenance costs and 95
\npercent of investment is in dollars, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Not to mention the debts. The industry's principal loan now
\nstands between US$500 million and $600 million,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The rupiah's fall, from about Rp 2,500 to the dollar before
\nJuly 1997 to about Rp 8,500 now, has more than tripled
\nexpenditure on imports and overseas loan repayments.<\/p>\n
Rudiantara, head of APTI's industry policy division, said GSM
\noperators now depended for their survival on the sale of prepaid
\nsubscriber identity module (SIM) cards.<\/p>\n
Prepaid card users represent at least 50 percent of the total
\n750,000 GSM subscribers, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The revenue from prepaid cards is not as much as from post-
\npaid ones. But it keeps us alive,\" he said, adding that prepaid
\ncard users were projected to make up more than 70 percent of
\ntotal GSM subscribers by the end of 1999.<\/p>\n
AMPS operators suffer more than GSM operators because they
\ndon't have an alternative source of income such as the prepaid
\ncard service, he said.<\/p>\n
He said all AMPS and GSM operators here would enter an
\nagreement on collective infrastructure utilization in May, hoping
\nto be able to cut their maintenance and operational costs.<\/p>\n
Junardy said another solution to the operators' problems was
\nto raise call tariffs.<\/p>\n
The average tariff for cellular phones worldwide stands at
\nabout $0.15 per minute, while Indonesia charges only about $0.05
\nper minute, he said.<\/p>\n
The government announced in January a 50 percent increase in
\nthe call rate to Rp 487.5 per minute. But the implementation of
\nthe new tariff first needs approval from the House of
\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission IV
\nfor Telecommunication, Tourism and Transportation, Burhanuddin
\nNapitupulu, said on Friday he supported the increase.<\/p>\n
He said cellular phone users, who were mostly from middle to
\nhigh income levels, would accept the reasons for the increase
\ndemand.<\/p>\n
He said it would be better to increase the tariff after the
\nJune election period. (cst)<\/p>",
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