New decree on VoIP puts light out on old operators<\/p>\n
Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government is set to issue a new ministerial decree this
\nweek that bans existing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
\noperators from continuing their services and gives the go-ahead
\nto five new operators to start their services.<\/p>\n
VoIP is a technology for transmitting ordinary telephone calls
\nover the Internet using packet-linked routes.<\/p>\n
Gatot S. Dewabroto, spokesman for the Directorate General for
\nPost and Telecommunications at the Ministry of Communications,
\nsaid that under the decree the current 12 VoIP operators have to
\nstop their services before June 1.<\/p>\n
As of that date, only the five new operators will be allowed
\nto offer VoIP services, namely state-owned companies PT Telkom,
\nPT Indosat and Indosat's cellular subsidiary PT Satelindo, and
\nprivate companies PT Gaharu Sejahtera and PT Atlassat Solusindo.<\/p>\n
The five companies received licenses from the government to
\noperate VoIP services last year, according to Gatot.<\/p>\n
"The existing 12 operators have to stop their services because
\nthe government never licensed them to do VoIP business. Their
\nlicenses are not for VoIP," Gatot said.<\/p>\n
The granting by the government of licenses to five new
\noperators and the plan to stop the existing operators' business
\nhave drawn strong protests from the operators as well as the
\nIndonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII).<\/p>\n
The association objects to the government's argument that the
\noperators had never been granted licenses to offer VoIP services.<\/p>\n
The association acknowledged that the licenses held by the 12
\noperators did not mention VoIP. Instead, the licenses only name
\n"Internet telephony, protocol talk, protocol Internet phone,
\nInternet talk or Internet phone" as the businesses the operators
\nare allowed to engage in.<\/p>\n
"True, the licenses do not explicitly say 'VoIP'. But
\n'Internet telephony, protocol talk, protocol Internet phone are
\nnothing but VoIP," an APJII executive, who asked for anonymity,
\nsaid at a recent media conference.<\/p>\n
The executive regretted that the government had not asked the
\nassociation to discussion the matter.<\/p>\n
"We have never been involved in policy-making; suddenly it
\n(the government) says there will be only five VoIP operators," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He also criticized the appointment of Gaharu and Atlassat as
\nVoIP operators, which he said did not follow a transparent tender
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
"We have never heard of them," the association said.<\/p>\n
APJII legal advisor Hinca I.P Pandjaitan said the association
\nhad asked the government to explain to it the fate of the current
\nVoIP operators once they are forced to cease operating after May
\n31.<\/p>\n
He said the request was made early this year in a letter to
\nMinister of Transportation Agum Gumelar, whose ministry also
\noversees communications. The association received no response
\nfrom the minister.<\/p>\n
"It appears that the 12 operators will be forced to merge with
\none of the new license holders once the decree comes into
\neffect," he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Turf war over VoIP services emerged as Telkom and Indosat saw
\nin the technology a new threat to their current call services.<\/p>\n
VoIP can slash phone bills by up to 70 percent for
\ninternational calls compared to those made through Indosat's
\nlines.<\/p>\n
For example, a call to Hong Kong that would cost Rp 8,000
\nusing Indosat's international call service costs Rp 2,000 through
\nVoIP.<\/p>\n
This inspired Telkom and Indosat to add VoIP to their services
\ninstead of compete against it.<\/p>\n
Telkom VoIP director Endy Prijanto said its recently launched
\nVoIP service TelkomSave boasted a monthly call traffic of 15
\nmillion minutes.<\/p>\n
Most Telkom VoIP calls are made to destinations like
\nSingapore, Australia, the United States, China and Hong Kong,
\naccording to Endy.<\/p>\n
"This is a potential market so we need strategic steps to
\nincrease the traffic," he said.<\/p>\n
He said Telkom signed last week an agreement with an America-
\nbased VoIP operator, that would improve the quality of phone
\ncalls made to the U.S.<\/p>\n
Telkom's extensive fixed-line infrastructure has a traffic
\ncapacity of 50 million minutes a month, of which only a third was
\nbeing utilized, he said.<\/p>\n
"We plan to launch local VoIP some time in April to utilize
\nour infrastructure," Endy said,<\/p>\n
Indosat, meanwhile, plans to launch its VoIP services by the
\nsecond quarter of this year, with VoIP installation completed in
\nJakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Batam.<\/p>\n
Its subsidiary Satelindo launched its VoIP service last
\nFebruary, although it is presently limited to Jakarta residents
\nand subscribers of its GSM postpaid service.<\/p>",
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