GSM operators prepare massive network expansion<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The country's three telecommunications operators
\nof the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) have planed
\nmajor projects to further expand their services in various
\nprovinces.<\/p>\n
In a hearing with members of the House of Representatives
\nyesterday, top executives of the three GSM operators, PT Satelit
\nPalapa Indonesia (Satelindo), PT Telekomunikasi Selular
\n(Telkomsel) and PT Telekomindo, shared the same view that they
\nshould focus on better services in facing fiercer competition in
\nthe digital cellular telecommunications markets.<\/p>\n
As the government controls both the tariffs for telephone
\ncalls and installation fee, cellular telecommunications operators
\nin Indonesia can compete only in services.<\/p>\n
Satelindo, partly owned by German DeTeMobil, is preparing the
\nexpansion of its GSM operations in Sumatra, Sulawesi and
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
\"In Sumatra, we plan to enter Medan, Palembang, Padang and
\nTanjungkarang. Our GSM will cover Pontianak, Balikpapan,
\nSamarinda and Bontang in Kalimantan as well as Ujungpandang and
\nManado in Sulawesi,\" Satelindo's President Iwa Sewaka said.<\/p>\n
Satelindo currently has 101,602 subscribers in Jakarta and
\nseveral big cities in West, Central and East Java. The company
\nhas invested a Rp 143.64 billion (US$61.8 million) in installing
\n236 base transceiver stations (BTS) in 134 locations.<\/p>\n
Satelindo's cellular director Saleh Gunawan said yesterday
\nthat his company would invest Rp 200 billion ($86.1 million) to
\ninstall some 200 new BTS this year.<\/p>\n
\"We will double the number of our subscribers by the end of
\nthis year,\" he said, adding that roaming services with overseas
\nGSM operators would total 40 in 1996.<\/p>\n
Roaming services allow GSM customers to use local cellular
\ntelephones from foreign countries to call operators in Indonesia
\nand vice versa.<\/p>\n
Satelindo, which also operates the Palapa-C1 satellite and
\ninternational calls, used equipment and technology from the
\nFrench telecommunications company, Alcatel, in developing its GSM
\nnetworks.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Telkomsel's President Koesmarihati Sugondo told the
\nhearing yesterday that her company would invest Rp 450 billion
\n($193.7 billion) this year for GSM expansion in about 17
\nlocations in the country.<\/p>\n
The new locations include the greater Jakarta area, Banda
\nAceh, Lampung and Palembang in Sumatra, Banjarmasin, Balikpapan
\nand Samarinda in Kalimantan, Ujungpandang and Manado in Sulawesi
\nand Ambon in Maluku.<\/p>\n
\"Telkomsel will also cover later this year the Jakarta-Bandung
\nareas via Cianjur and Cikampek, the Jakarta-Merak route, Bogor-
\nSukabumi-Cianjur route, Cikampek-Cirebon-Semarang-Tuban-Surabaya
\nroute, Bandung-Yogyakarta and Yogyakarta-Surabaya routes.\"<\/p>\n
Koesmarihati said that Telkomsel, which invested Rp 260
\nbillion last year in the project, currently operates in 114
\ncities in 12 provinces with 34,500 subscribers.<\/p>\n
Telkomsel's director of commerce Rudiantara said that the
\ncompany targets to net a total of 120,000 subscribers this year.<\/p>\n
He said that Telkomsel's roaming services would include
\nSoutheast Asian countries, Australia and a number of European
\nnations this year.<\/p>\n
Telkomsel, partly owned by the Dutch PTT Telecom, has now
\nroaming utilization services with GSM operators in foreign
\ncountries such as Hong Kong, Australia, France, Australia, the
\nPhilippines, Malaysia, Switzerland, Finland, Norway and the
\nNetherlands.<\/p>\n
The country's third GSM operator, PT Telekomindo, has set up a
\nnew company called PT Excelcomindo to run a digital mobile
\ncellular telephone system. Excelcomindo is partly owned by the
\nAmerican Nynex and Japanese Mitsui.<\/p>\n
Telekomindo's Vice President Peter Djatmiko said that
\nExcelcomindo would start its service in September in Java and
\nBali.<\/p>\n
\"We have allocated about $300 million for the GSM project,
\nincluding the installation of some 150 BTS. We hope to register
\n100,000 subscribers by the end of this year,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Telekomindo, currently operating the analog advanced mobile
\nphone system, is the third and the last operator awarded by the
\ngovernment to operate GSM nationwide.<\/p>\n
Peter said that in addition to Excelcomindo which will run
\nGSM, Telekomindo will set up later this year a new company called
\nPT Telekomindo Selular Raya to operate the advanced mobile phone
\nsystem lines.<\/p>\n
Telekomindo currently operates radio trunking
\ntelecommunications, a system in which users speak to each other
\nvia radio handsets on protected channels, and radio paging
\nservices through its subsidiaries, PT Mobilkom and PT Buana
\nBintang Bayu. (icn)<\/p>",
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