Higher rates may kill Net enthusiasm<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government's plan to increase fixed-line
\ntelephone rates may kill the momentum of the Internet in the
\ncountry, an expert said here on Friday.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the Indonesian Internet Service Provider
\nAssociation, Heru Nugroho, said the planned increase in phone
\nrates would discourage the use of the Internet.<\/p>\n
\"The hike would create a stagnancy of growth because
\nsubscribers would bear the cost of higher telephone bills,\" he
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives approved last month the
\ngovernment's proposal to raise telephone rates by an average of
\n21.67 percent this year. But the House then asked the government
\nto review the increase, which was scheduled to be implemented on
\nJune 10, following public criticism that the new rate structure
\nwas misleading.<\/p>\n
Although the average rate increase would be 21.67 percent,
\nsome calls in Jakarta would be 167.86 percent higher.<\/p>\n
Newly appointed Minister of Communications Budhi Mulyawan
\nSuyitno asserted on Thursday that the government would review the
\ntelephone rate structure and circulate it among the public before
\nimplementation.<\/p>\n
He did not say when the new rate structure would take effect.<\/p>\n
Heru said that currently about 90 percent of the 450,000
\nInternet subscribers in the country used regular telephone lines
\nto connect to the Internet. The other 10 percent use other means
\nsuch as broadband cable and satellite.<\/p>\n
Of the 450,000 subscribers, about 95 percent are individual
\nsubscribers who would be greatly affected by the increase, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The increase would also stunt the growth of the Internet kiosk
\nbusiness, considered the spearhead for the country to breach the
\ndigital divide, Heru said.<\/p>\n
\"People will be reluctant to build an Internet kiosk once the
\ntelephone rates go up. The business would not grow and as a
\nresult the spread of the Internet would be crippled,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Heru said the number of Internet kiosks had doubled during
\n2001 to some 3,000 kiosks from 1,500 kiosks at the end of last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
He had expected this figure to reach between 5,000 and 6,000
\nInternet kiosks this year, but with the planned hike in telephone
\nrates he fears the growth will come to a standstill.<\/p>\n
\"I am absolutely certain the target will not be reached, and
\nthere probably won't even be anymore additions to the existing
\nkiosks,\" Heru said.<\/p>\n
People will begin looking for other, cheaper alternatives to
\nconventional telephone lines to connect to the Internet.<\/p>\n
However, alternatives such as broadband cable are expensive
\nand are a more appropriate alternative for corporate customers or
\nhouseholds at the high end of the economic scale, Heru said.<\/p>\n
The number of Internet users in Indonesia is currently
\nestimated at two million, a majority of which access the Internet
\nthrough Internet kiosks. (tnt)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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