Lower tariffs needed for cellular telephone calls<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia needs to restructure the tariffs for
\ncellular mobile telephone calls in order to boost the number of
\nsubscribers, a senior telecoms executive said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"A new structure of call tariffs for mobile cellular phones is
\nnecessary to encourage more people to use mobile telephones,
\nfollowing the exemption of import duty on cellular handsets,\" a
\ndirector of PT Telkomsel, Garuda Sugardo, told reporters after
\ninspecting the company's business expansion preparations.<\/p>\n
Last month the government lifted the 25-percent import duty on
\ncellular telephone handsets, thereby making them more affordable.
\nTheir prices now range between Rp 1.5 million (US$655) and Rp 4
\nmillion ($1,750), about one-third lower than the prices of two
\nyears ago.<\/p>\n
Garuda said that mobile cellular telecommunications operators
\nin Indonesia compete only in the quality of services because call
\ntariffs are set by the government.<\/p>\n
\"The government would do better to let operators formulate
\ntheir own tariffs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said cellular telephone calls are billed on the bases of
\nair time and distance.<\/p>\n
\"In foreign countries, cellular telecommunications operators
\ncharge their subscribers for air time only,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Study<\/p>\n
Director General of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria
\nPurawidjaja said recently that the government is still studying
\nseveral tariff arrangements of various foreign operators.<\/p>\n
Indonesia expects to increase the number of cellular telephone
\nsubscribers to one million by the end of this decade from about
\n200,000 at present.<\/p>\n
Telkomsel, established in May this year, is one of the
\ncountry's three operators of global system for mobile (GSM)
\ntelecommunications. The other operators are PT Satelindo and PT
\nExcelcomindo.<\/p>\n
Telkomsel, which is 51 percent owned by state-owned domestic
\ntelecommunications operators PT Telkom and 45 percent by state-
\nowned international operator PT Indosat, currently operates in
\nseven provinces: Riau, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, East Java,
\nWest Java, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
As of Nov. 4, the company had registered 15,172 subscribers.<\/p>\n
Garuda said that next month the company will commence services
\nto five more provinces: Central Java, Yogyakarta, South Sumatra,
\nLampung and Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"We have invested Rp 251.65 billion for the expansion; for the
\nestablishment of 106,000 lines,\" he said, adding that Telkomsel
\nwill launch its Surabaya service tomorrow.<\/p>\n
The company will install 10,000 lines in Surabaya and 50,000
\nlines in the first step in Jakarta, he said.(icn)<\/p>",
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