Government wins House's approval to raise telephone charges<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives has given the go
\nahead to the government to raise telephone charges by about 45
\npercent over three years to help fixed-line operators cope with
\ntheir rising operating costs.<\/p>\n
The approval was given during a meeting on Wednesday evening
\nbetween the House's special telecommunications team and the
\nHouse's Commission IV for infrastructure and transportation.<\/p>\n
The chairman of Commission IV Sadjarwo Sukardiman said that
\nthe government could go ahead with its plan to raise telephone
\ncharges.<\/p>\n
\"We understand why telephone charges need to be increased,\" he
\ntold The Jakarta Post on Thursday. He added that an official
\nletter informing the Ministry of Transportation and
\nTelecommunications about the approval would soon be on the way.<\/p>\n
An increase in telephone charges was needed to help revive the
\nailing telecommunications industry, Sadjarwo said, explaining
\nthat the current investment return rate (IRR) was less than 10
\npercent, much lower than a bank's time deposit interest rate of
\n15 percent.<\/p>\n
\"This way investors would rather not put their money in
\ntelecommunications,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Sadjarwo said that about 97 percent of the country's
\npopulation were not connected to a telephone line, and he hoped
\nthe hike would invigorate the investment climate so that more
\ntelephone lines could be built and more people connected to the
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications proposed
\nin May last year a gradual increase in fixed-line telephone
\ncharges of up to 45.49 percent over three years.<\/p>\n
Sasmito Dirdjo, then the Director General of Posts and
\nTelecommunications, proposed that the charges be increased by
\n21.67 percent in 2001, 15.60 percent in 2002, and by another 8.22
\npercent in 2003.<\/p>\n
He said earlier that the government was only awaiting the
\napproval of the House before implementing the new charges.<\/p>\n
However, the vice chairman of Commission IV, Rosyid Hidayat,
\nsaid in a statement that the House had not explicitly approved
\nthe hike.<\/p>\n
He said that telephone charges were an integral part of the
\nrestructuring of the national telecommunications sector, and that
\nthere were many things to be considered before the hike could be
\nimplemented.<\/p>\n
The House had recommended that the government make public its
\nplans for the installation of new telephone lines and the
\nprovision of alternative telephone services such as voice over
\nInternet protocol (VoIP) that are cheaper than conventional phone
\nservices<\/p>\n
The House had also proposed that the government set
\ndifferential charges for disadvantaged economic groups, Rosyid
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Sadjarwo stressed that the government must restructure the
\ntelecommunications sector's regulatory environment and prepare
\nthe instruments which would serve as guidelines for
\ntelecommunications services.<\/p>\n
\"I think the government has already prepared the regulations,
\nit just needs the Minister's signature to put them into effect,\"
\nSadjarwo added.<\/p>\n
Besides a hike for fixed-line telephone charges, the House
\nalso gave its approval for a hike in cellular phone charges of up
\nto 30 percent, he said, adding that the hike was completely up to
\neach operator's discretion but that it must not be higher than Rp
\n450 ($0.045) a minute. (tnt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-wins-houses-approval-to-raise-telephone-charges-1447893297",
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