Govt urged to pursue communications liberalization plan<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Noted analysts and telecommunications businessmen urged the
\ngovernment on Thursday to pursue its plan to open up the
\ntelecommunications sector by removing the monopoly of state-owned
\ntelecommunications firm PT Telkom.<\/p>\n
The monopoly's removal would boost the public's access to
\ntelephone lines and other telecommunications services, they said
\nat a seminar.<\/p>\n
The seminar featured, among others, analysts Faisal Basri and
\nLin Che Wei and PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara senior official Adi
\nAdiwoso as speakers.<\/p>\n
\"We must voice that for the sake of the people as we are
\nseeing indications that the government is contemplating
\nprotecting Telkom too much,\" Faisal said.<\/p>\n
He cited the recent regulation which granted Voice over
\nInternet Protocol (VoIP) licenses to only five players: Telkom,
\nstate-owned company PT Indosat, Indosat's cellular arm Satelindo,
\nprivate firms PT Gaharu Sejahtera and PT Atlasat Solusindo.<\/p>\n
The government has planned to liberalize the
\ntelecommunications sector in 2004 by lifting Telkom's monopoly,
\nbut Faisal and other speakers at the seminar said the government
\nlooked hesitant to realize the plan in view of the fact that it
\ncontinued to issue regulations protecting Telkom.<\/p>\n
This is in contrast with the oil and gas sector, in which the
\ngovernment seems determined to liberalize the sector and remove
\nthe monopoly of state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina.<\/p>\n
\"Telkom would not collapse due to liberalization, as it has a
\ntraditional market and long history in the industry.<\/p>\n
\"Instead, it would adapt to the new situation by improving its
\nperformance, like, for example, national flag carrier Garuda
\nIndonesia, which became better off after the introduction of the
\nopen sky policy,\" Faisal said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Adi said free competition in the
\ntelecommunications industry was a vital factor in ensuring
\nforeign investors come into the sector.<\/p>\n
\"The telecommunications industry is actually still attractive
\nbecause of its high return on investment, which is at about 20
\npercent. Investors just need more competition and law
\nenforcement,\" he said, noting Telkom's failure to provide
\nsufficient telephone lines to people.<\/p>\n
He painted a bleak picture of the sector should the government
\nfail to issue a pro-liberalization regulation in the sector.<\/p>\n
\"Our telecommunications, Internet and supporting services
\ninfrastructure will not be better off. We are now in the lowest
\nposition in these sectors in comparison to other countries, such
\nas China, Malaysia and the Philippines,\" Adi said.<\/p>\n
Lin also agreed with the adoption of the liberalization plan,
\nsaying that a monopoly was acceptable in a special situation
\nwhere the market was small and investors must invest a huge
\namount of funds.<\/p>\n
But, he said, Indonesia was such a big market that Telkom
\nalone was not able to cover it. Thus, there is no reason to
\nmaintain its monopoly, he said.<\/p>\n
\"I agree that Telkom should possess a strong enough basis to
\ncompete with other firms in an open market era,\" he said.<\/p>\n
To cope with the problem, Faisal and Lin suggested that the
\ngovernment be professional in supervising the sector and prevent
\nformer Telkom officials from becoming regulators.<\/p>\n
Faisal further said that the government should establish an
\nindependent regulatory board to formulate a strong foundation for
\nfree competition.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-urged-to-pursue-communications-liberalization-plan-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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