Satelindo expects 60% more GSM subscribers<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo) expects
\na 60 percent increase in its global system for mobile
\ncommunications (GSM) subscribers this year, lifting the total
\nnumber of customers to 1.7 million from the 1.06 million recorded
\nat the end of last year, an executive said.<\/p>\n
Satelindo's vice president of cellular service marketing and
\nproduct management Tien Thinh Pham said on Friday that the
\ncompany would expand its switching capacity to support the
\ntarget.<\/p>\n
\"We are expanding our switching capacity to two million, so we
\nare really eying the two million mark this year,\" he told
\njournalists in a media briefing.<\/p>\n
Satelindo, which recorded 715,489 subscribers in 1999,
\nexperienced growing demand from cellular users following the
\nexpansion of its pre-paid services.<\/p>\n
Pham said that the company would build additional base
\ntransceiver stations (BTS) to enable expansion of its coverage,
\nparticularly in major cities outside Java.<\/p>\n
At present, Satelindo's service covers Denpasar, Greater
\nJakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Bandung, Batam, major cities in
\nSumatra, and Makassar in South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
\"By expanding our switching capacity, we are also expanding
\nour coverage area, so that soon we will also have coverage in
\nsmaller cities in Indonesia,\" Pham said.<\/p>\n
He said that out of the 1.06 million subscribers, 85 percent
\nare customers of Satelindo's Mentari pre-paid subscriber identity
\nmodule (SIM).<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia is a purely pre-paid market,\" Pham said, explaining
\nthat many people in strife-torn areas of the country, such as
\nAmbon and Irian, still prefer to use pre-paid services.<\/p>\n
He said that in areas lacking infrastructure, such as the
\noperator's representative offices, it is more convenient to use
\npre-paid services, which do not require any involved registration
\nor administrative procedures. (tnt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/satelindo-expects-60-more-gsm-subscribers-1447893297",
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