Cellular subscribers to grow 40% in 2003<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The number of cellular subscribers by the end of this year is
\nexpected to have grown by about 43 percent, or about five
\nmillion, from 11.4 million as of the end of last year.<\/p>\n
\"Out of the total cellular market, operator Telkomsel holds a
\nshare of about 52 percent, Excelcomindo 16 percent and Satelindo
\nalong with Indosat 31 percent,\" Rudiantara, the chairman of
\nIndonesian Cellular Phone Provider Association (ATSI) told The
\nJakarta Post on Friday.<\/p>\n
The remaining one percent was held by smaller operators like
\nMobisel, Telesera, Natrindo and Komselindo, which operated non-
\nGSM (global system for mobile communication) services, he
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
He said that ATSI expected the market to grow by four to five
\nmillion subscribers per annum for the next three years.<\/p>\n
Last year the cellular operators saw more healthy growth.<\/p>\n
\"At the end of 2001, our subscribers amounted to 6.6 million
\npeople. The number grew by 4.8 million to 11.4 million at the end
\nof 2002,\" he added. Thus, last year's growth in the number of
\ncellular subscribers reached a sparkling 72 percent.<\/p>\n
Rudiantara explained that the expected decline in growth was
\nnot because of weakening consumer purchasing power nor because of
\nmarket saturation.<\/p>\n
\"Consumer demand is out there and still going strong. However,
\nthe operators cannot meet the demand because additional supplies
\nwill not offer high profitability. New subscribers generally come
\nfrom the middle to lower income brackets, who spend only about Rp
\n50,000 (US$6) per month on communication,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that operators needed to find a cheaper technology to
\nserve such subscribers. \"That's our challenge.\"<\/p>\n
Another challenge was how to lower investment costs per
\nsubscriber. \"The current investment cost for one new subscriber
\nis about $200. At the beginning of our operation in 1995, the
\ncost reached $1,000,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"So, the lower the investment cost the better we will be able
\nto serve as many subscribers as possible.\"<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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