Telecoms bill set to pass next month<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives is upbeat about
\npassing the telecommunications bill by the end of August.<\/p>\n
Chairman of House Commission IV for telecommunications,
\ntourism and transportation Burhanuddin Napitupulu said on Monday
\nthat legislators and the government were in agreement on most of
\nthe important aspects of the bill.<\/p>\n
He said the commission would give its formal approval on
\nThursday after the task force for the bill completed final
\nrevisions of its wording on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
"The House will hold a a plenary session on August 25 to give
\nfinal approval on the bill," he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said commission members and the government finally reached
\nagreement on the most important issues in the bill, namely
\nexclusive rights in telecommunications currently held by state-
\nowned companies PT Telkom and PT Indosat, rate arrangements and a
\nregulating body.<\/p>\n
He said the bill would allow local and foreign companies to
\nfreely enter the telecommunications business without having to
\ncooperate with Telkom, which is currently required by
\nTelecommunications Law 3\/1989.<\/p>\n
"However, the bill will still allow Telkom and Indosat (and
\nIndosat's subsidiary Satelindo) to continue with their exclusive
\nrights until the end of their contracts," he said.<\/p>\n
Under the present law, Telkom has exclusive rights to provide
\nlocal fixed and fixed wireless telecommunications services
\nnationwide until 2010, and domestic long distance
\ntelecommunications services until 2005.<\/p>\n
Indosat and its joint venture PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia
\n(Satelindo) hold exclusive rights for overseas long-distance
\nservices until 2004.<\/p>\n
The bill also allows for early termination of exclusive rights
\nsubject to a mutual agreement between the government and Telkom,
\nIndosat or Satelindo, he said.<\/p>\n
Burhan said the possibility of early termination was designed
\nto give other companies wide opportunities to enter the sectors
\ncurrently controlled by Telkom, Indosat and Satelindo by offering
\ncompensation fees to each of the three companies.<\/p>\n
"So we can start liberalizing the telecommunications sector
\nwithout having to breach the commitment given to investors before
\nthe initial public offering of the three firms in early 1990s."<\/p>\n
On the rate arrangements, the new bill will allow
\ntelecommunications operators to set the amount of rates,
\nincluding the cellular airtime rate and new connection fee.
\nHowever, the rates should be based on the structures and formulas
\nmade by the government.<\/p>\n
Under the current law, operators can only propose rate
\nadjustments to the government based on formula and price cap
\nprovided by the government<\/p>\n
Burhan said the commission finally agreed to the government's
\nstance not to establish a completely independent regulatory body
\nto act as a watchdog in the telecommunications sector.<\/p>\n
He said the new bill would arrange for the establishment of a
\nforum comprising all the concerned parties under the Ministry of
\nCommunications to give the government input in the policy-making
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
"The government said the current situation is not yet suitable
\nto accept an independent regulatory body. They're afraid a
\ncompletely independent body will only add to bureaucratic
\nbarriers."<\/p>\n
The House initially proposed the establishment of an
\nindependent body consisting of telecoms operators, vendors,
\nrelevant associations, analysts, consumers and associated
\ngovernment institutions and government representatives to
\nsupervise the country's telecommunications sector. (cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/telecoms-bill-set-to-pass-next-month-1447893297",
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