RI expected to have 35m phone lines by 2004<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia may have at least 35 million telephone
\nlines by the end of the Seventh Five-Year Development Plan
\n(Repelita VII) in March 2004, much more than the government's
\noriginal target, an executive said yesterday.<\/p>\n
President of PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN), Adi R.
\nAdiwoso, said there were many rural areas in the country that had
\nvast potential for market penetration.<\/p>\n
\"The market is there (in the rural areas). About 180 million
\npeople are living there and I'd like to expand along with the
\neconomic growth,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that PSN currently operated Xpress Connection, a very
\nsmall aperture terminal which provides telephone lines in remote
\nareas through a satellite-based wireless telecommunications
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
Based on official data, by March 1999 (the end of Repelita
\nVI), Indonesia is projected to have some 11 million installed
\ntelephone lines for its 204 million population with a telephone
\ndensity rate of 5.39 per 100 people.<\/p>\n
The figure is estimated to reach 21.5 million lines by the end
\nof Repelita VII for a population of some 219 million with a
\ntelephone density of 9.82 per 100 people.<\/p>\n
The figures for 2009 are projected to reach 31 million lines,
\na 233 million population and a ratio of 13.3 lines per 100
\npeople.<\/p>\n
\"The projection will be surpassed as we can use sophisticated
\nsatellites to double telephone line installation, particularly in
\nrural areas,\" Adiwoso said.<\/p>\n
He said that investment per line unit would also be cheaper if
\nthere was a higher rate of subscriber density.<\/p>\n
\"PSN has set up PT MultiMedia Asia (M2A), a joint venture with
\n(state-owned) PT Indosat, which will operate the M2A satellite.
\nThe satellite will be able to serve voice, data and Internet
\nservices,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that through the satellite, telephone investment per
\nline unit would be some US$800. Currently, a telephone line
\ninvestment costs some $1,000.<\/p>\n
\"Price elasticity is very important to eliminate the entry
\nbarrier for people who wish to have telecommunications
\nfacilities,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Asked about licensing, he said the government had approved his
\nplan to penetrate the country's rural areas. \"This is about
\nRepelita VII, prospective operation or regulation from the
\ngovernment will be applicable then.\"<\/p>\n
The government rules that telephony services are operated only
\nby state-owned Indosat and PT Telkom. Private firms must work
\nwith state-owned telecommunications operators under a joint-
\noperation, joint-venture or management agreement,<\/p>\n
\"We will be able to use one of the operational arrangements
\nwhen we are ready with the operation,\" Adiwoso said.<\/p>\n
The M2A satellite will provide multimedia digital
\ntelecommunications services into small fixed antennas directly to
\nend-users with Asia-wide coverage. The system, scheduled to begin
\noperation in 1999, will be able to serve up to four million users
\nin Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Australia, China, Korea and Japan.<\/p>\n
Adiwoso hoped to install some 20 public telephones using the
\nM2A system in each of some 66,000 villages in Indonesia by the
\ntime the network is ready. (icn)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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