Major telecom companies predict fast growth<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia's two largest telecommunications companies, PT Telkom
\nand PT Indosat, project that telecommunications revenue will see
\na twofold increase in 2010.<\/p>\n
PT Telkom's president director Arwin Rasjid forecast that over
\nthe next five years, revenues in the telecommunications industry
\nwould range between Rp 141 trillion (US$14.37 billion) and Rp 181
\ntrillion, from last year's revenue of Rp 48 trillion.<\/p>\n
\"This excludes revenue in the handsets business, which records
\nsales of 10 million units per annum,\" he said on Monday at a
\nseminar held by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's
\nCommittee for Telecommunications and Information.<\/p>\n
Arwin said by 2010, fixed-line subscribers would almost double
\nfrom that of 2004, while mobile phone subscribers and Internet
\nusers would triple.<\/p>\n
At present, there are about nine million fixed-line
\nsubscribers or about 4.8 percent of the population, while
\ncellular subscribers total 35 million or 14 percent, and Internet
\nusers total 16 million or about 7.4 percent of the population.<\/p>\n
His projection was based on the rapid growth shown in the
\ncellular industry.<\/p>\n
\"Only within 12 years, the number of cellular subscribers has
\nreached 35 million, the most rapidly growing market in Southeast
\nAsia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
However, cellular market penetration here remains low compared
\nto the Indonesia's neighbor Malaysia, which has penetration of 19
\npercent in fixed lines, 63 percent in cellular phones and 48
\npercent for Internet users out of its 23 million population.<\/p>\n
Indosat's president director Hasnul Suhaimi said the rapid
\ngrowth started after the prepaid system was first introduced in
\n1998, boosting the number of cell phone subscribers by 73.5
\npercent last year.<\/p>\n
\"The growth was also influenced by cheap handsets and
\ncompetitive prices offered by cellular operators,\" he said at the
\nseminar.<\/p>\n
But the two firms' top officials agreed that Indonesia's
\nmarket penetration remained low even in the Southeast Asia
\nregion, thus needed to be boosted.<\/p>\n
Arwin pointed to Indonesia's geography that presented a big
\nchallenge for telecommunications companies to develop their
\ninfrastructure.<\/p>\n
\"As of last month, our division in the eastern part of
\nIndonesia could only cover 29 percent of regencies and 9 percent
\nof villages in the whole of the island of Papua,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He hoped that fixed-line market penetration would be improved
\nthrough the implementation of the Universal Service Obligation
\n(USO), which is aimed at providing basic telecommunications
\nservices to villages.<\/p>\n
A report from the Ministry of Telecommunications and
\nInformation says there are 38,837 villages nationwide that have
\nyet to receive basic telecommunications services.<\/p>\n
Therefore, the ministry has issued Government Regulation
\nNo.28\/2005, obligating telecommunications operators to contribute
\n0.75 percent of their annual revenues to USO.<\/p>\n
\"It requires Rp 15 million to provide communications services
\nto one village, so it will need more than Rp 600 billion to cover
\nall of the villages. If USO could collect Rp 300 billion in a
\nyear, we will cover all of Indonesia within three years,\" he
\nsaid. (006)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/major-telecom-companies-predict-fast-growth-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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