Cellular phone operators lose Rp 200b on bills<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Local cellular telephone operators have lost Rp
\n200 billion (US$26.66 million) due to unpaid customer bills, the
\nAssociation of Cellular Telecommunication Indonesia (ATSI) said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The association's chairman, Soedjono Kramadibrata, said the
\ncompanies could not trace many of their debtors because they had
\nsubmitted false identities and addresses when applying for an
\naccount.<\/p>\n
\"Competition between cellular operators made the companies
\nstrive to attract customers by offering easily obtainable
\naccounts,\" he said after the signing of a memorandum of
\nunderstanding (MOU) to fight customer fraud.<\/p>\n
\"This condition caused companies to be slack in verifying the
\ndata of their applicants, and gave way to bad customers,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
These customers abused the situation to change from operator
\nto operator, leaving their bills unpaid, he said.<\/p>\n
\"In Komselindo alone, bad debts account for 20 to 30 percent
\nof our total (projected) revenue,\" said Soedjono, who is also
\npresident of PT Komselindo, one of the country's cellular
\nproviders.<\/p>\n
He said there was not an institution which could provide
\nverification of customer data.<\/p>\n
Cellular operators could not obtain data on potential
\ncustomers from competitors in the past because the companies were
\nunwilling to give out customer information.<\/p>\n
Under the MOU signed yesterday, the country's seven cellular
\noperators agreed to establish a customer data verification center
\nto eliminate fraud. The database facility will be available in
\nJuly, Soedjono said.<\/p>\n
It will enable the mobile phone operators to verify the data
\nsubmitted by the applicants of their services.<\/p>\n
The companies will be able to check whether their applicants
\nhave previously been customers of other operators and have left
\nunsettled bills, he said.<\/p>\n
The country's seven mobile operators use three different
\nsystems in cellular mobile telecommunication services.<\/p>\n
The digital GSM is operated by PT Telkomsel, PT Satelindo and
\nPT Excelcomindo.<\/p>\n
The analog system, Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS), is
\noperated by PT Metrosel Nusantara, PT Telesera and Komselindo.<\/p>\n
PT Mobisel operates the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT-450), the
\nanalog service primarily installed in vehicles run by PT Mobisel.<\/p>\n
The association said the number of cellular users grew by 100
\npercent last year.<\/p>\n
Despite the monetary crisis, which has slashed the rupiah's
\nvalue against the dollar by about 70 percent, growth in the
\nnumber of cellular customers will be about 50 percent this year,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He said the number of cellular users currently totaled between
\n900,000 and 1.3 million.<\/p>\n
The association also urged the government to raise cellular
\nphone tariffs.<\/p>\n
\"However much the rate increase, it would not be enough to
\nreturn our high investment in this business,\" Soedjono said.<\/p>\n
\"However big the rise is, it would still be like a drop of
\nwater in the dessert,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said most of the components in the mobile phone business
\nwere imported. About 90 percent of investments are made in U.S.
\ndollars.<\/p>\n
\"This is a heavy burden on us,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Soedjono estimated the seven operators' turnover to be about
\nRp 1.8 trillion a year. (das)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cellular-phone-operators-lose-rp-200b-on-bills-1447893297",
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