Telecom industry enters multimedia services<\/p>\n
By I. Christianto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Through the rapid development in information and
\ntelecommunications technologies, people have started to change
\nthe way they communicate by applying multimedia, which is now
\ncontrolled by the country's telecommunications industry.<\/p>\n
The convergence of equipment, services and networks was
\ninevitable. The components of equipment, which include
\ntelecommunications, computers and videos, have merged. As have
\nthe components of services which include newspaper, movies, cable
\ntelevision, telecommunications, publishing and broadcasting.<\/p>\n
Customers require sophisticated services of high quality,
\nglobal coverage and competitive prices. Developing countries are
\naccelerating telecommunications development to improve service
\nquality, expand coverage and increase penetration.<\/p>\n
The state-owned domestic telecommunications provider PT Telkom
\nestimated that the definite services of multimedia would be
\navailable in Indonesia by 2005 at the earliest, even though some
\napplications like Internet, Integrated Services Digital Network
\n(ISDN) and Intelligent Network (IN) facilities are already in
\ndaily use in big cities.<\/p>\n
ISDN is, in general, a network evolving from a telephony
\nintegrated digital network that provides end-to-end digital
\nconnectivity. This then supports a wide range of services,
\nincluding voice and non-voice services, to which users have
\naccess by a limited set of standard multipurpose user network
\ninterfaces. The development of ISDN began in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
Internet services were commercially applied in Indonesia in
\n1994. There are currently more than 20 Internet providers in the
\ncountry, with an estimate of dozens of million of people enjoying
\nthe services.<\/p>\n
Telkom is also set to launch later this year IN, a service
\nfacilitating information exchange through several systems.<\/p>\n
Apart from the existing services, Telkom plans to enter the
\nmultimedia era with the aim of connecting all homes with optical
\nfiber, replacing its conventional cable networks. The project
\nwill include fiber in the loop, fiber in the curb and fiber in
\nhome installations.<\/p>\n
Relying on its digital and fiber-optic networks, Telkom plans
\nto develop multimedia services in cooperation with private firms.
\nCooperation and alliances are a must for Telkom because
\nmultimedia service is a convergence of various items of
\nbusinesses.<\/p>\n
Telkom has signed a preliminary deal with cellular telephone
\noperator PT Telekomindo Primabhakti and private TV station PT
\nRajawali Citra Televisi to develop the services. Telkom has well-
\nprepared infrastructure potential for voice and visual image
\ntelecommunications.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, PT Indosat, the state-owned international
\ntelecommunications carrier, is also prepared to set up multimedia
\nservices.<\/p>\n
Indosat plans to acquire a number of shares in PT Yasawirya
\nTama Cipta, a Jakarta-based private production house which
\nprovides video recordings for television broadcasting and video
\ntechnical assistance.<\/p>\n
Through participation in the Yasawirya Tama equity, Indosat,
\nwhich is listed on the New York and Jakarta stock exchanges,
\nintends to explore and develop a multimedia business.<\/p>\n
Indosat is currently exploring the possibility of providing
\nmultimedia services in the country and has budgeted $13.5 million
\nfor 1996 for the development of a pilot network. The company is
\nnegotiating a deal with Suginamii, a Japanese broadcasting firm.<\/p>\n
As an international telecommunications provider, Indosat has
\nexpanded access to fiber optic digital submarine cables by
\njoining regional and worldwide cable consortia. The participation
\nwill facilitate Indosat, when it enters the multimedia service.<\/p>\n
The company participates in several overseas projects
\nincluding the Asian Pacific Cable Network, Southeast Asia-Middle
\nEast-Western Europe (Seamewe 3) and Trans Pacific cable (TPC-5).<\/p>\n
Asian Pacific Cable Network is a consortium for the
\nconstruction and operation of a fiber optic submarine cable
\nsystem linking Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea,
\nMalaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and
\nAustralia. The system will be in service in late 1996 or early
\n1997. TPC is a 24,500-kilometer submarine cable which will link
\nJapan and the United States to be ready in December this year.
\nSeamewe 3 is a consortium of several telecommunication firms
\nwhich will install a new high-capacity fiber-optic submarine
\ncable system linking Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the
\nMiddle East and western Europe. The project is expected to be in
\nservice in 1998.<\/p>\n
Broadband<\/p>\n
Development in technology has the ability to facilitate the
\nmultimedia service. The country has adapted digital technology
\nwhich enables service integration, improved transmission quality
\nand expanded transmission capacity.<\/p>\n
Computer and telecommunications technology enables new service
\ndevelopment and sophistication. Satellite technology enables
\nworldwide coverage and multiservice transmission. Optical fiber
\ntechnology provides high capacity transmission facilities.<\/p>\n
Optical fiber prepared by the telecommunications companies
\nwill facilitate better services of the multimedia.<\/p>\n
A senior general manager of Telkom, Suryatin Setiawan, said
\nthat Indonesia is now entering the broadband telecommunications
\nera.<\/p>\n
\"The applications of ISDN and IN is now utilizing the
\nnarrowband, which doesn't need fiber optic. But due to the
\nlimited bandwidth we enter broadband communications.\"<\/p>\n
Broadband will be necessary for the telecommunications of
\nvideo, television broadcasting and high definition television.<\/p>\n
A director of Indosat, Bambang Sulistyo, said that if a
\ndigital telephone transmission just needs 64 kilobits per second
\n(kbps) current, the transmission of video communications will
\nneed folded 64 kbps currents.<\/p>\n
Normally, low speed data and telephone transmission work on 64
\nthe kbps current, while still images, video conference and
\ntelevision broadcasting uses megabytes and three dimensional
\ntelevision will use gigabits.<\/p>\n
Participants<\/p>\n
There are currently about three million telephone lines which
\nwere installed by Telkom, which plans to install another five
\nmillion lines by 1999. The rate of telephone density is still low
\nin Indonesia, which reaches only 1.65 lines per hundred people.<\/p>\n
Apart from telephone networks, the utilization of customer
\nterminals which include home televisions, direct to home
\ntelevisions (satellite dishes), videocassette recorders (VCR) and
\npersonal computers should also be considered in entering the
\nmultimedia service.<\/p>\n
There is no accurate data on the density and penetration of
\nhome television, VCR and direct to home televisions and personal
\ncomputers in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Major participants in multimedia are content providers which
\ninclude film studios, printing media, television broadcasters,
\nproduction houses, news agencies and information providers like
\nresearch institutes and software houses.<\/p>\n
There are currently more than 300 printing media (newspapers,
\nmagazines and bulletins) and more than 600 commercial radio
\nstations operating in Indonesia. There are five private
\ntelevision broadcasting firms currently in operation in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
In addition to RCTI, ANteve, SCTV, Indosiar and TPI, the
\ngovernment has also licensed other firms to operate television
\nstations, including PT Merdeka Citra Televisi in Semarang,
\nCentral Java, PT Cakrawala Bumi Sriwijaya in Palembang, South
\nSumatra, PT Ramako Indotelevisi in Batam, Riau and PT Sanitya
\nMandara in Yogyakarta. However, the latter firms have not started
\noperations since their permits were issued in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, there is currently Indovision, a company
\nwhich runs cable television in the country. Through a satellite
\nsystem, Indovision, an affiliate of PT Matahari Lintas Cakrawala,
\noffers several channels of overseas programs including CNN, TNT
\nCartoons Network, Discovery, ESPN and HBO. A Matahari Lintas
\nsubsidiary plans to operate its own direct broadcast system
\nsatellite.<\/p>\n
Such related businesses will support the multimedia because
\nthe convergence of equipment, services, content and networks is
\ninevitable for the new facility.<\/p>\n
Multimedia is one of the few dominant themes in the ongoing
\ndebates over the future of network communications.<\/p>\n
A system of multimedia will allow people to simulate operating
\nstores via computer networks. The participants will be able to
\ndesign stores, draw up management plans and select goods to be
\nsold. Multimedia usually comprises such things as video-on-demand
\nand on-line shopping. But several new concepts are coming,
\nincluding \"edutainment\" (an educational software for children to
\nspend up learning basic skills), \"telecooperation\" (long-distance
\ncooperation) and \"hypermedia\".<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/telecom-industry-enters-multimedia-services-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}