Jakarta needs more pay phones that work<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Pedestrians often come to Anen's stall on Jl. K.S. Tubun,
\nSlipi, Central Jakarta, merely to exchange bills for coins to
\nmake phone calls from a public phone next to his kiosk.<\/p>\n
"Some of them alight from public minivans, and head for my
\nstall to get some change and try to make calls from the public
\nphone," he told The Jakarta Post last week.<\/p>\n
But the phone users find nothing but frustration, as they
\nlater find out that the phone is out of order right after a coin
\nor two is inserted.<\/p>\n
A recent report from the state telecommunications company PT
\nTelkom showed that 40 percent of the 20,000 public phones in the
\ncity were out of order, mostly because of vandalism.<\/p>\n
Decreasing revenues from public phones, has recently motivated
\nTelkom to transfer the management of the phones to the private
\nsector. Telkom also believes that the use of cellular phones has
\ncontributed to the dwindling revenues from public phone usage.<\/p>\n
Wati, not her real name, told the Post that although she had a
\ncellular phone, public phones were still very helpful as they
\noffered a cheap alternative.<\/p>\n
"I can make a local phone call as long as I want, without
\nthinking that it will cost me a lot," she said.<\/p>\n
She said that she used pay phones often when the credit for
\nher cell phone ran out.<\/p>\n
According to her, it was far cheaper to make a call from a
\npublic phone than from a privately-run telecommunications outlet
\nor wartel.<\/p>\n
"I would be happier if the public pay phones were easily
\naccessible and actually worked," she said.<\/p>\n
From a public phone, one can make a phone call for up to three
\nminutes, depending on the distance, for just Rp 100. The cost
\noffered at the wartel may be several times higher, and higher
\nstill for cell phone call.<\/p>\n
On Jl. K.S. Tubun which leads to Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta,
\nthere are only a few public phones that work. One of them is
\nsheltered by a makeshift stall, so that to make a phone call, one
\nhas to go inside it.<\/p>\n
Anen noticed that users for public phones are mostly
\nteenagers. "Maybe because they don't have their own cellular
\nphones or do not have enough money to go to a wartel," he said.<\/p>\n
Inside the compound of nearby Tresna Pangastuti hospital,
\nwhere almost all the pay phones still work, the demand for public
\nphones is high.<\/p>\n
Nedi, a staffer at the hospital said that family members of
\npatients were those who used the public phones as their means of
\ncommunication.<\/p>\n
"A number of the hospital staffers also make calls on the
\npublic phones here," he said.<\/p>\n
He said that the pay phones at the hospital were left
\nuntouched by vandals because they were installed inside the
\nhospital compound.<\/p>\n
A number of technicians from Telkom regularly collect coins
\nfrom their boxes and do some maintenance work.<\/p>\n
Telkom probably generates a considerable amount of revenue
\nfrom well-maintained public phones, Nedi surmised.<\/p>",
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