Mobisel investing $200m to install CDMA technology<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Cellular operator PT Mobile Selular Indonesia
\n(Mobisel) will invest US$200 million to replace its current
\nanalog Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) technology with the more
\nadvanced digital technology of Code Division Multiple Access
\n(CDMA), the company announced on Monday.<\/p>\n
Mobisel's president Amir Abdul Rachman said that it had signed
\nan agreement last week with Lucent Technologies, which will
\nprovide the CDMA infrastructure at the frequency of 450
\nmegahertz.<\/p>\n
\"The new technology will give customers clearer reception and
\nenable them to benefit from the system's added features, such as
\nSMS,\" he said in a media conference here.<\/p>\n
He said installation of the CDMA technology would commence in
\nSeptember and was expected to be completed by March 2002.<\/p>\n
Amir added that the company would install the newest CDMA
\ntechnology, called CDMA 2000, capable of transmitting data at a
\nspeed of 144 kilobits per second.<\/p>\n
CDMA is one of two digital cellular technologies widely used
\ntoday, the other being the Global System for Mobile Communication
\n(GSM). GSM is, however, more popular among Indonesian operators,
\nincluding PT Telkomsel, PT Satelindo and PT Excelcomindo Pratama.<\/p>\n
Other technologies based on the analog system include NMT and
\nthe Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS). AMPS is used by
\nTelesera, Metrosel and Komselindo.<\/p>\n
Amir said the $200 million investment would be allocated to
\nconversion of the system, the replacement of handsets owned by
\ncustomers and the expansion of network coverage.<\/p>\n
Mobisel currently maintains 135 base transceiver stations
\n(BTS), covering a network that extends throughout Lampung in
\nSouth Sumatra, Java and Bali.<\/p>\n
\"Next, we will expand throughout the rest of Sumatra,
\nKalimantan, further east to Lombok, to eventually cover all of
\nIndonesia,\" Amir said.<\/p>\n
As of March, Mobisel's subscribers numbered between 12,000 and
\n13,000, he said, adding about 70 percent of the company's
\nsubscribers live in rural areas.<\/p>\n
\"We are targeting customers in places where conventional
\nphones and other digital cellular services cannot operate,\" Amir
\nsaid, explaining that its low frequency of 450 megahertz could
\ncover a wider area than the higher frequencies applied by other
\noperators.<\/p>\n
Amir said that the number of users was higher than the actual
\nnumber of subscribers, thanks to services like cellular kiosks,
\nwhich are locally known as warsel -- a telecommunications kiosk
\nproviding services via cellular phones instead of fixed-line
\nphones.<\/p>\n
Mobisel provides at least 400 cellular kiosks on board various
\ninter-island ferries, such as on the Merak-Bakauheni route,
\nMobisel vice president Rudy Martinez said.<\/p>\n
\"So from just one line, these kiosks could reap more than Rp 5
\nmillion (about $476) in revenue a month,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Amir said Mobisel's conversion to CDMA was expected to
\nincrease the number of subscribers to more than 200,000 during
\nthe first year of operation. (tnt)<\/p>",
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