More satellite licenses to come<\/p>\n
By I. Christianto<\/p>\n
GENEVA (JP): The Indonesian government will award more
\nsatellite licenses to private firms intending to operate and
\nprovide satellite network services, a senior official said here
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Secretary general of the ministry of tourism, post and
\ntelecommunications, Jonathan L. Parapak, said private firms
\nplayed an important role in developing the country's
\ntelecommunications industry and satellite networks would be a
\npromising business in domestic as well as regional markets.<\/p>\n
"Why not (give more satellite licenses) if it's necessary and
\nsince there are still satellite slots available? We can penetrate
\noverseas markets like China, India, Australia and so on. So don't
\nonly think about domestic competition in satellite business,"
\nParapak said after delivering a presentation on national
\ninformation infrastructure at the TELECOM Interactive 1997 Forum.<\/p>\n
Currently three Indonesian firms operate satellites: PT
\nTelkom, PT Satelindo and PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN).<\/p>\n
PT Media Citra Indostar will launch its first satellite next
\nmonth. PT Asia Cellular Satellite (ACeS) and PT Multi Media Asia
\n(M2A), partly owned by PSN, will operate their own satellites in
\nthe next few years.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, the government has booked 24 satellite slots
\nat the International Telecommunications Union for further
\napproval.<\/p>\n
Parapak indicated that private firms, including the newly
\nestablished multimedia companies, would likely be granted
\nlicenses to operate satellites.<\/p>\n
"We rely on private firms (in developing the country), even
\nTelkom is now a private firm as it has been listed on capital
\nmarkets," he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said the government, private firms and educational as well
\nas research institutions must work hand in hand to realize the
\nso-called Nusantara 21, a national information infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Nusantara 21, a multibillion dollar communications project, is
\ndesigned to connect the whole archipelago to the information
\nsuperhighway. The project will include the development of
\nmultimedia technology in several big cities and wideband super
\nlanes by 2001.<\/p>\n
"We are still working on this project, it's reasonable if
\nIndonesia has a low multimedia access rate," Parapak said.<\/p>\n
In its recent report, titled "Challenging to the Network:
\nTelecommunications and the Internet", ITU ranked Indonesia 44th
\nout of 45 nations.<\/p>\n
The multimedia access rankings were based on penetration of
\ntelephone line density, TV set density and Internet hosts
\ndensity. The report shows that Indonesia's main telephone line
\ndensity in 1996 was 2.1, while TV sets density in 1995 and
\nInternet hosts density in 1996 were 18.3 and 0.005, respectively.<\/p>\n
In his speech, Parapak said that Nusantara 21 is another
\nbreakthrough in Indonesian telecommunications technology after
\ndeciding to develop a communications satellite system, Palapa, in
\n1976.<\/p>\n
Indonesia became the first Asian nation to operate a domestic
\nsatellite at a time when such a system was only applied by
\ndeveloped countries like Canada and the United States, he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is currently developing telecommunications networks
\nand infrastructure -- including fiber optics, submarine cables,
\nterrestrial gateways and satellites -- for fixed
\ntelecommunications lines and cellular services.<\/p>\n
Chairperson and senior advisor of the Centre for Strategic and
\nInternational Studies, Diana L. Dougan, said the biggest problems
\nin developing national information are technological protection,
\nmarket reality and government promises.<\/p>\n
She said many governments around the world failed to keep
\npromises on new regulations.<\/p>",
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