Govt to install more telephone lines by 1999<\/p>\n
CIMAHI, West Java (JP): The government plans to add at least
\n1.5 million telephone lines to the five million targeted to be
\ninstalled during the ongoing Sixth Five-Year Development Plan
\n(Repelita VI) which ends in March 1999.<\/p>\n
Both Director General of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria
\nPurawidjaja and the president of the state-owned domestic
\ntelecommunications provider PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom),
\nAsman A. Nasution, said that the planned installation of five
\nmillion telephone lines within the current Repelita VI period was
\na minimum target.<\/p>\n
\"It will be very good for everybody if there more than five
\nmillion telephone lines will be installed,\" Nasution said after
\nattending a ceremony for the awarding of an inter-connection test
\ncertificate to PT Aria West International here on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The government originally planned to install at least five
\nmillion lines within the current Repelita VI period, of which
\nsome 2.2 million will be established by five private firms under
\n15-year joint operation contracts with Telkom, while the other
\nthree million lines will be installed in the greater Jakarta area
\nand East Java by Telkom itself.<\/p>\n
\"The government will soon announce the new target. A special
\nteam is still discussing the matter after consulting with
\nofficials from the National Development Planning Board
\n(Bappenas),\" Djakaria said.<\/p>\n
He refused to disclose a particular quantity, saying that
\nMinister of Tourism Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave would
\nsoon determine the matter.<\/p>\n
In its latest annual report, Telkom announced that its network
\ndevelopment plan exceeds the government's target and calls for
\nthe nationwide construction of approximately 6.5 million lines
\nthe during five years ending on Dec. 31, 1998. This will bring
\nthe total telephone lines in Indonesia by that date to 8.9
\nmillion.<\/p>\n
It's not clear, however, whether or not the additional
\ntelephone lines will be installed in the greater Jakarta area and
\nEast Java, two sites which will remain under the management and
\noperation of Telkom.<\/p>\n
Certification<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Aria West, a joint venture of US West
\nInternational (with 35 percent of the shares), the Asian
\nInfrastructure Fund (12.5 percent) and PT Artimas Kencana Murni
\n(52.5 percent), accepted the test certificate from Djakaria for
\nits wireless local loop operation here, a town about five
\nkilometers from Bandung, the capital of West Java.<\/p>\n
The company, one of the five private firms awarded 15-year
\nconcessions by Telkom, is responsible in the first phase to
\ninstall and operate 500,000 lines by 1999 after taking over the
\noperation of some 425,000 existing telephone lines in West Java
\nin January. The second phase is the operation of Telkom
\nfacilities in West Java by Aria until 2010.<\/p>\n
Aria West, using Digital Cordless Telephone System (DCTS)
\nequipment supplied by NEC of Japan, demonstrated on Saturday its
\ntelephone connections to Serang in West Java, Pamanukan in East
\nJava, Denver in the United States and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Aria West's president, John G. Vondras, said that his company
\nwould be able to install up to 650,000 lines or 30 percent more
\nthan the contracted lines.<\/p>\n
Some analysts believe that the West Java concession will
\nprobably be the most profitable among the five telecommunications
\ncontract areas.<\/p>\n
Aria West has signed an agreement with four leading arrangers,
\nincluding Chase Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Credit
\nLyonnais and Sanwa Bank, to raise US$615 million in project
\nfinance facilities to fund the establishment of the 500,000
\ntelephone lines in West Java.<\/p>\n
The company has paid Rp 284 billion ($120.7 million) in fees
\nthis year to Telkom as compensation for the operation of its
\nexisting telephone networks in West Java. (icn)<\/p>",
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