Internet cafes gripe about poor phone service<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Internet cafe operators are complaining about the poor
\ntelephone service provided by state-owned telecommunications firm
\nPT Telkom Tbk, despite the increases in phone charges in February
\nwhich dealt another blow to the already-battered sector.<\/p>\n
\"We find it difficult to run our business profitably given the
\nrecent phone charge hike, especially as the existing service
\nremains poor,\" said Valentino, the owner of the Anyelir Internet
\ncafe on Jl. Salemba Tengah in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Valentino attributed the poor service to limited bandwidth
\ncapacity, which prevented expansion so as to offset the phone
\ncharge increase.<\/p>\n
\"If we add new computers to increase our profit margins, it
\nwill backfire on us as the Internet connection speed will be much
\nslower and encourage the customers to look elsewhere for better
\nservice,\" Valentino explained.<\/p>\n
Anyelir Internet cafe, he said, was one of eight Internet
\ncafes in the Salemba area and had around 40 visitors per day,
\nmostly university students. Every visitor spent between an hour
\nand four hours in the cafe.<\/p>\n
\"We charge a more expensive rate of Rp 5,400 for those who use
\nthe Internet after 5 p.m. as they are mostly office workers,
\nwhile a cheaper fee of Rp 4,000 is charged before 5 p.m., when
\nmost of the customers are students from the nearby universities,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Valentino criticized Telkom for being insensitive to the
\npublic's need for access to the Internet. This was shown by the
\nrecent increases in phone charges.<\/p>\n
Telkom increased local and long-distance phone charges, as
\nwell as the monthly connection fee, by up to 17.9 percent. Under
\nthe current phone charge regime, the rate for streetside call
\ncenters jumped by 16.77 percent for local calls and 12.68 percent
\nfor long-distance calls.<\/p>\n
The phone charge hike was part of the government's three-year
\nplan to jack up phone charges by 45.49 percent in a bid to help
\nattract new investment to the fixed-line telecommunications
\nsector.<\/p>\n
Voicing similar concerns to Valentino, Waluyo, who owns the
\n@kas.net Internet cafe in the Galur Sari housing complex in East
\nJakarta, revealed that the phone charge hike had put further
\npressure on his business, which was already in the doldrums
\nfollowing the government's decision to increase electricity
\ncharges, increases which are scheduled to continue until 2005.<\/p>\n
Waluyo said the number of his customers had dropped by more
\nthan 30 percent to 20 visitors on average per day this year as
\ncompared to an average of 30 people last year.<\/p>\n
The business pressures had forced three or four operators in
\nthe area to the wall. \"I'm the sole survivor in a tough business.
\nNevertheless, my turnover is still sluggish given a decline in
\ncustomer interest in using the Internet,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that he earned Rp 1.6 million profit a month from the
\nsix computer units in his internet cafe.<\/p>\n
According to a survey conducted by state-run PT Indosat, there
\nare 800 small call centers (locally known as wartel) in Jakarta.
\nSome of them also serve as Internet cafes. But, many believe that
\nthe real figure runs into the thousands, greatly exceeding the
\nreported figure.<\/p>\n
There are around 3 million Internet users in Indonesia. Of the
\ntotal users, 2.5 million people use the Internet in Internet
\ncafes.<\/p>\n
The Internet Cafe Owners' Association (Awari) predicted that
\nit members' business would fall by 50 percent if no new product
\ncame along to energize the business.<\/p>\n
\"The business is already in the doldrums as most of our
\ncustomers are bored with the existing products,\" said Michael
\nSunggiardi, Awari's chairman.<\/p>\n
Michael said that the era of International Relay Chat (ERC),
\nas the main product of most kiosks, was already passe for most
\ncustomers.<\/p>\n
\"Most of the Internet users use it to check incoming e-mails
\nand reply to them, as well as to browse,\" said Michael.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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