Is BRTI independent?<\/p>\n
Indonesian Telecommunications Society (Mastel) chairman Giri
\nSuseno, during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission
\nIV overseeing telecommunications, questioned the independence of
\nthe Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI), as reported in The
\nJakarta Post, Dec. 4.<\/p>\n
He said that under the current structure, the BRTI was weak,
\ngiven that the director general of post and telecommunications
\nDjamhari Sirat, as chairman of the body's regulatory committee,
\ncould influence the body's decision-making process.<\/p>\n
He also suggested the adoption of the Australian model for
\nregulatory bodies, which was flexible and applicable to
\nIndonesia, but he failed to provide details.<\/p>\n
I agree with him, as the dual role of Djamhari clearly
\nobstructs objectivity and independence.<\/p>\n
As for the Australian regulatory body model, it is called the
\nOffice of Regulator-General (ORG) and was established in 1994
\nunder ORG Act 1994 chaired by a regulator-general.<\/p>\n
The ORG does not regulate only a single public utility, but
\ncovers all utilities such as water, gas, railway system,
\nelectricity, port system and grain. Each of these utilities is
\nregulated under a separate act and an independent ORG.<\/p>\n
The above example is of the regulatory office in Victoria, one
\nof the six states of Australia. Telecommunications is not
\nincluded in the ORG's scope of work, because Australian
\ntelecommunications giant Telstra had been privatized before the
\nestablishment of the ORG. However, the thrust of the regulatory
\nframework is that the ORG is independent of the government, and
\nis accountable directly to the Australian parliament.<\/p>\n
The proposal to adopt the Australian model was indeed very
\nappropriate in the sense that the abovementioned utility sectors
\nare prone to price hikes at the expense of consumers.<\/p>\n
It was one day after July 17, 2003 -- which marked the day the
\nMinister of Communications Agum Gumelar inaugurated the long-
\nawaited telecommunications regulatory body -- Djamhari made a
\nstatement that astonished the general public, to the effect that
\nthe BRTI committee would soon raise telephone rates, something
\nthat went against public interests. This statement clearly showed
\nthe questionable independence of the regulatory body.<\/p>\n
M. RUSDI
\n Jakarta<\/p>",
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