Surtax on cellular phone handset high: Executive<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The large amount of government levies keeps the
\nprices of mobile telephones in the country quite high, an
\nexecutive says.<\/p>\n
\"The government's levies on the sales of handheld telephones
\nare equivalent to 182.5 percent of the import prices of the phone
\nequipment,\" a director of PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia
\n(Satelindo), Adi Rahman Adiwoso, said yesterday.<\/p>\n
He explained that the levies include a 30-percent import duty,
\n10-percent value added tax (VAT) and 30-percent luxury goods tax.<\/p>\n
Satelindo, a private satellite and telephone operator, sells
\nhandheld telephones using the Global System for Mobile
\nCommunications (GSM) at a range of between Rp 3.95 million
\n(US$1,811) and Rp 5.95 million each.<\/p>\n
Adi said the prices include the installment fee, subscriber
\nidentity module and first month subscription fee.<\/p>\n
\"Satelindo will not charge subscribers for any incoming calls.
\nWe just collect frequency utilization fees of Rp 8,400 per month
\nwhich will then be passed on to the government,\" he said, adding
\nthat monthly subscription fees will be set at Rp 37,500 and call
\nfees at Rp 100 per every 15 seconds.<\/p>\n
The government currently plans to arrange a Fundamental
\nTechnical Plan, an integrated regulation on the
\ntelecommunications business in the country, which will likely
\ninclude charges on air utilization.<\/p>\n
Subscribers<\/p>\n
Satelindo has invested Rp 67 billion in its GSM project, which
\nincludes the establishment of facilities for the operation system
\nsupport (OSS), network sub-system (NSS) and base station sub-
\nsystem (BSS). The company plans to have marketed 30,000 cellular
\nphone lines by the end of this year, of which 6,000 have been
\nordered since the launch of its marketing in early September.<\/p>\n
Adi said that the operation of the GSM project will begin on
\nNov. 1 and \"we plan to complete connection works within one day,
\nas compared to 60 days at present.\"<\/p>\n
Satelindo, owned 30 percent by the state-owned domestic
\ntelecommunications company PT Telkom, 10 percent by the state-
\nowned international telecommunications company PT Indosat and 60
\npercent by PT Bima Graha, a subsidiary of the Bimantara Group,
\noffers six brands: Nokia, Ericsson, Phillips, Alcatel, Motorola
\nand Siemens.<\/p>\n
According to Adi, 50 percent of the first 6,000 subscribers
\npreferred to use costly phone handsets.<\/p>\n
He also said that by the end of this year, the coverage of his
\ncompany's telephones will include the greater Jakarta area, which
\nwill be expanded next year to include Cikampek, Purwakarta and
\nAnyer, all in West Java.<\/p>\n
Within the next five years, some 30 cities in 12 provinces
\nwill be covered by Satelindo's GSM system, he added.<\/p>\n
Besides Satelindo in Jakarta, Telkom also operates a GSM
\nsystem for Riau province. The government has already given Telkom
\napproval to run a nationwide GSM system in cooperation with
\nIndosat. (icn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/surtax-on-cellular-phone-handset-high-executive-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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