Govt launches rural phone line project<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government officially launched on Thursday the initial
\nstage of a Rp 475 billion (US$528 million) telecommunications
\nproject aimed at 72,000 villages across the country.<\/p>\n
Minister of Communications Agum Gumelar said he expected that
\nby the end of 2005 those villages would already have access to
\ntelecommunications.<\/p>\n
The initial project will cover 3,010 villages across the
\ncountry, and involve the collaboration of two private sector
\ntelecommunications companies, PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN)
\nand PT Citra Sari Makmur (CSM).<\/p>\n
PSN will install telecommunications facilities in 2,975
\nvillages, while CSM will do so in 35 villages. While the former
\nwill use Portable Fixed Satellite (PFS) technology, the latter
\nwill use Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology.<\/p>\n
The project -- which was first announced on Aug. 19, 2003 --
\nis part of the implementation of the Universal Service Obligation
\n(USO) program aimed at providing phone services for all citizens.<\/p>\n
The USO program was agreed during the International
\nTelecommunications Union (ITU) conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in
\n1995, when all countries were urged to provide their citizens
\nwith basic telecommunications facilities, such as telephone, fax
\nand telegram services.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the Asia-Pacific Telecommunications (APT)
\norganization at its summit in Tokyo in 2000 issued the Tokyo
\nDeclaration calling on each member country, including Indonesia,
\nto provide all of their citizens with access to
\ntelecommunications by 2005.<\/p>\n
The fixed-line telephone density in Indonesia is only about 6
\npercent out of the country's 220 million population.<\/p>\n
To ensure the project achieves its goal, the government
\nexpects all telephone operators to donate 0.75 percent of their
\nannual revenues to the USO project. In concrete terms, the
\ngovernment expects to gain some Rp 250 billion (US$27.8 million)
\nfrom them to fund the initial stage of the project.<\/p>\n
\"We will soon issue a ministerial decree to require the
\ntelephone operators to make the donations,\" said Agum.<\/p>\n
The government itself has allocated Rp 45 billion from the
\nstate budget for the initial stage of the project.<\/p>\n
Under the USO project, PSN and CSM will sell the telecoms
\nfacility using a package called PASTI (which is an acronym for
\nbuild your own telephone), which consists of an antenna, a mains
\nbox, a SIM card, a handset, a phone rate counter and a
\nstabilizer.<\/p>\n
\"The charge will be the same as the fixed-line telephone rate,
\nonly this will work on a pre-paid basis,\" Antara quoted a
\ngovernment official as saying.<\/p>\n
The starter pack will be priced at Rp 750,000, with different
\nreload vouchers priced at Rp 100,000, Rp 200,000 and Rp 500,000.<\/p>\n
The telecoms facility -- with phone numbers starting with 0868
\n-- will be able to be linked up in various situations as it
\nemploys satellite technology, the official said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-launches-rural-phone-line-project-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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