Telkom called to solve dispute<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government has called on state
\ntelecommunications company PT Telkom and its five joint operation
\nscheme (KSO) partners to quickly settle their dispute before mid-
\nyear to allow the partners to resume their telecommunications
\ndevelopment activities.<\/p>\n
Eman S. Sumantri, head of the telecommunications and
\ninformation supervision department at the Ministry of
\nCommunications, said on Tuesday the failure to speed up the
\ndevelopment of new projects would result in a shortage of
\ntelephone lines in most areas.<\/p>\n
\"If no new investment and development of new lines are
\nconducted by mid-year, we are going to face shortages in
\ntelephone lines in December,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said no new telephone lines had been installed by the
\npartners over the last couple of months due to the prolonged
\ndispute.<\/p>\n
He said there were only a few issues that had been settled
\nbetween Telcom and its partners, including issues involving
\nrevenue sharing.<\/p>\n
The KSO partners recently said they would not make major
\ninvestments or install new lines until the problems were solved
\nand a new, clear contract was made with Telkom.<\/p>\n
The partners estimate that demand for new lines in their work
\nareas will reach between two million and three million within the
\nnext five years.<\/p>\n
They said fresh investment of between US$3 billion and $5
\nbillion was needed to finance the development of the lines.<\/p>\n
Telkom and its five KSO partners have been embroiled in a
\ndispute over the management and operation of Telkom's work areas
\nput under the management of the partners in 1996.<\/p>\n
Telkom appointed the partners in 1996 to finance, build and
\noperate domestic fixed line telephone services across the country
\non behalf of Telkom under a revenue-sharing scheme through 2010.<\/p>\n
The five KSO partners are PT Pramindo Ikat Nusantara, which
\noperates in Sumatra, PT AriaWest International in West Java, PT
\nMitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia in Central Java, PT Cable &
\nWireless Mitratel in Kalimantan and PT Bukaka Singtel
\nInternational in eastern Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Telkom controls the most profitable markets of Jakarta and
\nEast Java.<\/p>\n
Under the 1996 agreement, the KSO partners were required to
\ninstall a total of two million new access line units (ALU) from
\n1996 to 1999.<\/p>\n
The government revised the figure to only 1.2 million in 1998
\nin the midst of the economic crisis.<\/p>\n
The agreement also required the partners to pay Telkom a
\nmonthly fixed amount known as minimum Telkom revenue (MTR) and
\ndistributable Telkom revenue (DTR) amounting to 30 percent of
\ntheir revenue.<\/p>\n
Eman said it was hard to settle the dispute between Telkom and
\nits partners as both parties had a strikingly different
\ninterpretation of the contents of the contract almost from the
\nbeginning.<\/p>\n
He said this had affected the partners' performances, which
\nanalysts have criticized as unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n
\"Not all of the lines installed by the partners passed the
\ninitial performance test,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said only four partners, namely Pramindo Ikat, Mitra
\nGlobal, Cable & Wireless Mitratel and Bukaka Singtel, had passed
\nthe tests and had been awarded certificates. (cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/telkom-called-to-solve-dispute-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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