New telecoms feature planned<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): New technology and services are among the major
\ngrowth areas of the telecommunications industry's future.
\nCompanies are competing to provide facilities like value-added
\nservices and information technology, including electronic data
\ninterchanges and multimedia services, Internet content and access
\nservices.<\/p>\n
One of the features introduced by telecommunications
\ncompanies, mainly fixed-line telephone operators, is caller
\nidentification, which allows subscribers to know the number of a
\ncaller.<\/p>\n
In other countries, like in Britain and the Netherlands, the
\ncaller identification service was introduced several years ago,
\nbut the state-owned PT Telkom is about to introduce the facility
\nlater this year.<\/p>\n
Account manager of Telkom's Jakarta office, Edi Marwoto, said
\nthat Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) cellular
\noperators introduced the caller identification facility several
\nyears ago.<\/p>\n
\"This is not so innovative but it is new for the fixed line,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He said that the facility is an optional value-added service,
\ntherefore, no government regulation was needed.<\/p>\n
He said that Telkom Jakarta office had set a plan to apply the
\nservice later this year.<\/p>\n
\"For the time being, we can only apply the service in five
\ncentrals out of 156 telecommunications centrals (STO) in the
\ngreater Jakarta area,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Telkom Jakarta includes the five areas in the capital
\n(Central, West, East, North and South) as well as Bogor, Cariu
\nSerang and Tangerang in West Java and Bekasi and Kerawang in East
\nJakarta, with a total of 2.18 million lines.<\/p>\n
Marwoto said that the first five areas in Jakarta to enjoy the
\ncaller identification service would include Ancol (640 and 641
\nprefixes), Cilincing (440 and 441), Kota I (690, 691, 692 and
\n693), Kedoya (580, 581 and 583) and Slipi (560 and 569).<\/p>\n
So far, through a selective offering, residents in the five
\nareas had shown great demand, he said.<\/p>\n
\"There are already 100,000 requests but we only plan to
\nintroduce the service by next month,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that there would be an evaluation before the service
\nwas formally introduced in the greater Jakarta area.<\/p>\n
\"We need time to install new software to support the service
\nin all STOs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that Telkom was also likely to introduce the service
\nin East Java. Domestic telecommunications networks in the greater
\nJakarta area and East Java are operated and managed by Telkom,
\nwhile five other areas in Indonesia -- Sumatra, West Java,
\nCentral Java, Kalimantan and Indonesia's eastern part -- are
\nmanaged and operated by private firms.<\/p>\n
Lawrence Tjandra of PT Ariawest International, said that his
\ncompany, which manages telecommunications in West Java, would
\nalso introduced the caller identification service later this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Marwoto said that subscribers interested in having the service
\nwould need to apply to a nearest Telkom customer care service
\noffice.<\/p>\n
\"The tariff will be about Rp 25,000 for application and
\nactivation. The monthly fee will be about Rp 10,000,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that subscribers would have to use special telephone
\nsets with displays which were approved by the Directorate General
\nof Post and Telecommunications.<\/p>\n
\"Not any brand with display are compatible with the service.
\nPeople must be very careful with this,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He admitted that there have been several advertisements in
\nsome newspapers about the service which might make the public
\nconfused.<\/p>\n
A company bordering North and Central Jakarta advertised that
\nit had the authority to sell special devices made in China and
\nspecial telephone sets made in Surabaya, East Java, applicable
\nfor the caller identification service.<\/p>\n
The company owner, Anes, said that the devices made in China
\ncost Rp 650,000 each, while the domestic product cost Rp 287,500.<\/p>\n
He said that the first device was small, about the size of a
\nwalkman, and had a memory of 99 incoming and unanswered calls,
\nwhile the second one only had a memory for 31 calls.<\/p>\n
\"The prices include paper service to Telkom. So, subscribers
\ndo not need to go to the customer service office themselves,\"
\nAnes said.<\/p>\n
He said that scores of people called his office everyday
\nasking for the service.<\/p>\n
\"I have to inform them that the service is not applicable in
\nsome areas yet,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another company in West Jakarta markets American products,
\nwhich cost Rp 600,000 each.<\/p>\n
An executive of the company, Mulyanto, said that each product
\nhad a memory capacity of 50 numbers and had a one-year guarantee.<\/p>\n
Caller identity will be a new value-added services offered by
\nTelkom, which has already introduced five facilities, including
\ncall waiting, conference, call abbreviation and voice mail.<\/p>\n
It is essential to provide new value-added services for fixed-
\nline subscribers amid sharp competition in the high technology
\ninformation era.<\/p>\n
Caller identification may be a simple technology compared to
\nthe complicated services and businesses of future services in
\ncommunications, which include data, voice or video transmission,
\ntelecast services, video conference, the Internet and global
\nmobile services.<\/p>\n
Marwoto said that by subscribing to the service, users would
\nbe able to know who was calling them before picking up the phone.<\/p>\n
To some extent, mystery calls (nuisance or obscene calls)
\nwould drop since people will think twice about their act because
\ntheir phone numbers will be displayed at the receiving terminals;
\nunless they make the call from a public phone.<\/p>\n
However, in the Netherlands, people have the choice to turn on
\nand off the caller identification service.<\/p>\n
On behalf of KPN Telecoms, Laurens Bulters of PT Telkomsel,
\nsaid that people wanting to annoy others could still do so as
\nthey could block their number from identification.<\/p>\n
He said the caller identification service won great public
\nreaction when introduced about six months ago.<\/p>\n
In other services, the expansive Internet facilities now allow
\npeople to make international and long distance calls using local
\ntelephone rates.<\/p>\n
The service, however, needs several devices, including a
\npersonal computer and Internet access as well as other additional
\ndevices.<\/p>\n
Safwan Natanagara of the state-owned PT Indosat said the new
\nservice would not affect the company's business because the
\nnumber of Internet users in Indonesia was still low.<\/p>\n
Indosat is the primary provider of international
\ntelecommunications services in Indonesia, holding an estimated
\nmarket share of approximately 87 percent of total international
\npaid minutes for all calls from fixed telephone lines and
\ncellular telephones as of last year.<\/p>\n
Indosat was slightly affected by callback services several
\nyears ago. Callback services take advantage of cheaper call rates
\nfrom other nations beyond the originating countries where the
\ncalls are made. The rates are usually cheaper than in many
\nnations. Indonesian banned the provision and use of callback
\nservices in 1994. But later Indosat bought 20 percent of Global
\nLink, a callback service provider.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-telecoms-feature-planned-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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