This special page is published in observance of World
\nTelecommunications Day, which is celebrated worldwide on May 17.
\nThe special page reports the challenges and opportunities in the
\ncountry's telecommunications sector.<\/p>\n
USO project: Connecting the unreachable<\/p>\n
Hendarsyah Tarmizi
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
In May 1844, Samuel Morse transmitted the first message by
\ntelegraph. The message was heard 37 miles away and it changed
\nhistory, forever.<\/p>\n
The apt message, \"What has God wrought?\", transmitted 160
\nyears ago, marked the dawn of the telecommunications age. Within
\na decade, telegraphy had become a routine public service.<\/p>\n
Although World Telecommunications Day has been celebrated
\nevery year to commemorate the signing of the first International
\nTelegraph Convention in Paris on May 17, 1865, the hard work of
\nSamuel Morse should not be forgotten.<\/p>\n
Today, many people cannot imagine daily life without the use
\nof increasingly sophisticated information and communications
\ntechnologies (ICTs) -- from television and radio to mobile phones
\nand the Internet.<\/p>\n
Yet, for millions of people in the world's poorest countries,
\nthere remains a \"digital divide\" that excludes them from the
\nbenefits of ICTs.<\/p>\n
The same situation exists in Indonesia. Telecommunications
\ntechnology has become a basic need for many people living in
\nmajor cities. A mobile phone has become a must-have item even for
\nhigh school students.<\/p>\n
In stark contrast, for millions of people living in villages,
\ntelephone services remain a luxury, let alone for other millions
\nof people living on isolated islands in the vast archipelago.<\/p>\n
The investment climate in the telecommunications sector has
\nbecome much more positive since the removal of state-owned
\ntelecommunications carrier PT Telkom's monopoly on domestic
\nfixed-line telephone services.<\/p>\n
However, Telkom and new players in fixed-line telephony such
\nas Indosat, which previously focused its services on
\ninternational telecommunications, are still reluctant to expand
\ntheir fixed-line services.<\/p>\n
Low charge rates for domestic telephone services remain the
\nmain factor in the slow development of the country's fixed
\ntelephone lines.<\/p>\n
Although fixed telephone rates have increased by nearly 35
\npercent since 1991, operators still think the existing rates are
\ntoo low to generate a reasonable return.<\/p>\n
To develop an infrastructure of fixed lines is much more
\ncostly than providing mobile phone services using Global System
\nfor Mobile Communication (GSM) or the Code Division Multiple
\nAccess (CDMA)-based fixed wireless services. That might
\nexplain why many telephone carriers are focusing their operations
\nin urban areas, with either GSM or CDMA technology, rather than
\nproviding services in rural areas, which generally lack business
\npotential due to their small population and the low purchasing
\npower of the inhabitants.<\/p>\n
To rely on existing telecommunications operators in providing
\ntelephone connections for these isolated areas is certainly not
\nfair. But their contribution to help reduce the isolation is
\nnecessary.<\/p>\n
Within this context, the government has adopted the Universal
\nService Obligation (USO) concept to cope with the digital divide
\nin Indonesia. Under this concept, , existing
\ntelecommunications operators are required to provide 0.75 percent
\nof their revenues to help finance the USO project.<\/p>\n
At present, at least 43,000 villages are not reached by
\nfixed-line telephone services, or about 60 percent of the
\ncountry's total.<\/p>\n
The first USO project, which was launched in November 2003
\nunder the recommendation of the International Telecommunications
\nUnion (ITU), covered 3,010 villages with the use of Portable
\nFixed Satellite (FPS) and Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)
\ntechnology. The Rp 45 billion (about US$5.3 million) project was
\nfinanced from the state budget because the operators were not yet
\nready at the time to provide their contribution.<\/p>\n
However, the government is hoping that, from the start of this
\nyear, the USO project, which will last until 2015, will be
\nfinanced by funds to be collected from the operators.<\/p>\n
Under the 2003 project, qualifying villages should be located
\nat least 20 kilometers from the closest point of the existing
\nfixed-line network.<\/p>\n
\"The distance will gradually be reduced in the coming projects
\nso that locations closer to existing facilities will also be
\ncovered,\" said Bambang Dian, spokesman of the directorate general
\nof posts and telecommunications.<\/p>\n
In implementing the 2003 project, the government appointed two
\nsatellite-based operators, PT Pacific Satelit Nusantara (PSN) and
\nPT Citra Sari Makmur.<\/p>\n
PSN was asked to provide satellite-based connections in 2,975
\nisolated locations in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua
\nwith its FPS technology, while Citra was appointed to install
\nconnections in 35 locations in Kalimantan and East Nusa Tenggara
\nwith its VSAT.<\/p>\n
Each location or village was given one satellite-based
\ntelephone connection, to be used as a public phone. The service
\nis subsidized by the government so that villagers will pay only
\nas high as Telkom's fixed line tariff.<\/p>\n
\"PSN has completed all the installment work and now awaits the
\nsecond project,\" PSN's spokesperson Chrisma A. Albanjar said. She
\nadded that each FPS telephone connection cost Rp 13.5 million to
\nbuild, including a Rp 750,000 prepayment card.<\/p>\n
She said that once the call units were finished, the head of
\nthe village could buy a new card through PSN kiosks located in
\nthe regency capital.<\/p>\n
\"With such a public phone available, farmers can now check
\ncommodity prices in nearby towns,\" she said. \"For them it is
\nimportant because they can now decide the best time to sell their
\nproduce in town,\" she added.<\/p>\n
Bambang said that the government was still preparing the
\ntender for the second phase of the USO project.<\/p>\n
No details were yet available, but he said that the project
\nwould continue according to the existing schedule.<\/p>\n
With the reluctance of operators to provide telephone services
\nin rural areas, the USO project has become the only hope for
\nmillions of inhabitants in remote villages to escape their
\nisolation from the outside world.<\/p>",
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