France Telecom to support Telkom<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): France Telecom, one of Europe's leading
\ntelecommunications operators, will help state-owned PT Telkom
\nimprove its efficiency through a joint operation arrangement to
\ntake effect this month.<\/p>\n
With the Astra group and two other local partners, France
\nTelecom has set up PT Pramindo Ikat Nusantara to manage existing
\nfixed-telephone lines in Sumatra under a 15-year joint operation
\n(KSO) contract signed last October.<\/p>\n
The contract requires Pramindo to install 540,000 new lines
\nwithin the next three years.<\/p>\n
\"Through the contract Pramindo will help Telkom improve
\nefficiency as we speed up the transferring of know-how to
\nTelkom,\" France Telecom's honorary chairman, Marcel Roulet, told
\nreporters here yesterday.<\/p>\n
Under the KSO plan, Telkom will hand over its
\ntelecommunications networks in Sumatra, West and Central Java,
\nKalimantan and the eastern part of the country (Sulawesi, Irian
\nJaya, Maluku and Nusa Tenggara) to five different private firms
\nwhich involve both domestic and overseas telecoms firms.<\/p>\n
The private firms will operate and install the networks on
\nbehalf of Telkom, which hopes to become a world class operator by
\nthe year of 2001.<\/p>\n
Roulet also said that his company, through Pramindo, will
\nconcentrate on the project in Sumatra before arranging other
\npossible projects in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia is one of the most potential telecommunications
\nmarkets in Asia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, France Telecom's vice president of international
\ngrowth, Michel Aunis, said that Pramindo is his company's biggest
\njoin venture company in Asia.<\/p>\n
\"We have also partnerships in Japan and Thailand, but Pramindo
\nis currently our largest ownership in Asia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Pramindo is 59 percent owned by PT Astratel Nusantara, a
\nsubsidiary of Astra group, and 35 percent by France Cable et
\nRadio, a subsidiary of France Telecom. The other six percent is
\nowned jointly by the employee cooperative of the Ministry of
\nTourism, Post and Telecommunications, and PT Intertel Pratama
\nMedia.<\/p>\n
France Telecom's chief executive officer, Laurent Mialet, said
\nthat his company's revenues and profit totaled US$32 billion and
\n$2 billion respectively last year.<\/p>\n
\"We are expecting a three percent or four percent increase in
\nrevenues this year,\" he said, adding that France Telecom
\ncurrently has 145,000 employees. (icn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/france-telecom-to-support-telkom-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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