Fixed-wireless operators eye twofold growth<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Fixed-wireless service operators are upbeat about their prospects
\nand estimate that customer numbers could triple by the end of
\nthis year through the aggressive expansion of coverage.<\/p>\n
The president and CEO of Fren, a service provided by Mobile-8
\nTelecom, Hidajat Tjandradjaja, said on Wednesday the company
\naimed to sign up one million new subscribers this year to join
\nits existing 500,000 customers.<\/p>\n
\"It's a small number compared to that targeted by Telkomsel,
\nfor example,\" he said, referring to the leading Global System for
\nMobile Communications (GSM) operator in the country, which hopes
\nto attract six million new users this year.<\/p>\n
To reach its target, Fren will expand to Bali in the first
\nsemester of 2005 and to Sumatra and Kalimantan in the second
\nsemester, Hidajat said on the sidelines of the launch of Bank
\nMandiri's single access line.<\/p>\n
He declined to detail the company's planned capital
\nexpenditures for this year.<\/p>\n
\"One line of fixed-wireless service costs approximately
\nUS$85,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another industry player, Esia, wants to capitalize on its
\nlimited license in Jakarta, West Java and Banten by entering 14
\nnew cities this year, starting with Bogor at the end of this
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
\"Our target is to attract 500,000 new customers,\" said deputy
\npresident director Bismarka Kurniawan. That figure is double its
\ncurrent number of users.<\/p>\n
\"The capital expenditure will be more than Rp 1 trillion
\n($107.70 million), which will come from internal funding,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Fixed-wireless service, which uses Code Division Multiple
\nAccess (CDMA) technology, is a phone service with limited
\ncellular mobility in a designated area that was first introduced
\nto Indonesia two years ago.<\/p>\n
The service offers rates almost equivalent to the rates of
\nfixed-line service, which is much cheaper than the rates of GSM
\nmobile phone operators.<\/p>\n
Fixed wireless began gaining ground in the industry last year,
\nthanks in part to aggressive sales campaigns by operators -- free
\ncalls and free short message service during specific hours and
\ndays, which moved GSM operators to cut their rates and come up
\nwith their own attractive packages.<\/p>\n
Operators of the CDMA-based phone service include Telkom's
\nFlexi service, which dominates the market with 1.5 million
\nsubscribers, PT Bakrie Telecom with its Esia service, Fren, PT
\nIndosat with StarOne and Mandara Selular Indonesia with Neo_N.<\/p>\n
Cellular services, both using CDMA or GSM technology, are seen
\nas answers to the problem of limited communication access in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
At present, only about 8.5 million people -- less than 4
\npercent of the population -- have access to fixed-line phones,
\nwhile there are about 30 million subscribe to mobile phone
\nservices provided by GSM operators.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fixed-wireless-operators-eye-twofold-growth-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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