Govt will increase telephone rates before 2004<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After being delayed for about 10 months, the government said
\non Wednesday that it would raise telephone rates by an average 15
\npercent before the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Ministry of Communications' post and telecommunications
\ndirector-general Djamhari Sirat said a similar hike, the third 15
\npercent increase, would also be implemented next year.<\/p>\n
Djamhari was speaking to reporters after unveiling the plan at
\na meeting with the House of Representatives Commission IV on
\ntelecommunications.<\/p>\n
He declined to provide details of the plan.<\/p>\n
The phone charge increases are part of the government's three-
\nyear plan to crank up phone charges by 45.49 percent. The first
\nstage hike was implemented in February 2002. The second phase was
\nsupposed to be implemented in January this year along with
\nincreases in the prices of fuel and electricity. But the
\ngovernment was forced to cancel the utility price hikes due to
\nstrong protests from the public. The third phase will be carried
\nout in 2004.<\/p>\n
The phone rate hike is expected to boost the revenue of the
\ncountry's fixed-line operators to allow them to increase
\ninvestment in the sector so that more people can have
\ntelecommunications access.<\/p>\n
The government said that currently Indonesia has a fixed-line
\npenetration rate of only 3.6 percent, meaning that only around 8
\nmillion fixed phone lines are available for a population of more
\nthan 220 million.<\/p>\n
While state-owned publicly-listed telecommunications company
\nPT Telkom has enjoyed strong profit during the past couple of
\nyears from its monopoly in the sector (the company in 2002
\nenjoyed a 96.4 percent jump in net profit to Rp 8.4 trillion
\n(US$987.6 million), partly contributed by proceeds from the sale
\nof asset), loss-making state-owned electricity company PLN has
\nbeen forced by the government to cancel a plan to raise
\nelectricity prices next year amid rising political tension ahead
\nof the 2004 general elections. The government has also said that
\nit would maintain subsidies on fuel prices to help ensure
\nstability in the prices of the commodity.<\/p>\n
Djamhari said the decision on the phone rake hike would come
\nalong with a new government regulation on the duopoly arrangement
\nin the fixed-line telecommunications sector, in which PT Indosat
\n(also a publicly listed firm now controlled by Singapore
\nTechnologies Telemedia) has been allowed to also operate in the
\nsector.<\/p>\n
The phone rate hike will create new burdens on the people and
\nbusinesses still struggling to recover from the impact of the
\neconomic crisis.<\/p>\n
Chairwoman of the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation
\n(YLKI) Indah Suksmaningsih said that before raising the phone
\nrate, the government must first explain to the public the
\nprogress of providing basic telephone services in rural areas
\nafter the first phone rate hike was implemented in 2002.<\/p>\n
She said that such a report would be important for the public
\nto build their trust in the government as well as reduce
\nresistance to the plan.<\/p>\n
Analysts have also said that the government should have first
\nforced Telkom to boost efficiency.<\/p>",
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