Govt to name firm to operate public phones<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government has decided to give permission to
\none company to manage public telephones outside the capital.<\/p>\n
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication Joop Ave told
\nreporters here yesterday that the company allowed to manage the
\npublic phones would not be a large one.<\/p>\n
Presently, he said, more than three private companies manage
\npublic telephones. He did not mention the names of the firms.<\/p>\n
Other businesses which are specifically open to small-scale
\nfirms and cooperatives are the wartel (telecommunications stalls)
\nand Internet service providers.<\/p>\n
Joop said that public telephones were especially needed to
\ncater to the large number of paging services currently operating
\nin the country because people receiving paged messages often need
\nimmediate access to a telephone.<\/p>\n
He said that two years ago the only two companies given
\npermission to operate nationwide paging services had listed
\n24,000 customers.<\/p>\n
Joop added that the prospects of the paging business seemed
\ngood, so the government allowed eight other companies to operate
\npaging services throughout the country.<\/p>\n
\"Nationwide services needed large investments, so this was
\nopened to large companies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The smaller scope regional or local paging services have been
\nreserved for small-scale companies. \"Currently some 90 small-
\nscale companies provide such services,\" Joop said.<\/p>\n
In about a year, the number of customers using paging services
\nreached 500,000. \"Therefore, I have increased the target for the
\nSixth Five Year Development Plan period from one million
\ncustomers (of paging services) to three million,\" Joop said.<\/p>\n
But he considered that the number of public phones in the
\ncountry as inadequate -- both in terms of quantity and quality --
\nto meet the increasing demand generated by paging services and
\nother factors.<\/p>\n
The government, Joop said, has stipulated that three percent
\nof the five million telephone lines to be installed by the end of
\nthe development plan period in March 1999 must be allocated for
\npublic phones.<\/p>\n
The government recently awarded five joint operation contracts
\nfor telecommunications facilities in Kalimantan, Central Java,
\nSumatra, West Java and the nation's eastern islands to private
\nsector companies.<\/p>\n
Of the five million telephone lines to be installed by the end
\nof the development plan period, two million have been set aside
\nfor private companies under joint operation contracts, while the
\nother three million, to be installed in the greater Jakarta area
\nand East Java, will be managed by the state-owned domestic
\ntelecommunications operator, PT Telkom. (pwn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-to-name-firm-to-operate-public-phones-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}