Telkom seeks to prevent telecoms failure in West Java, Banten<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom
\nand the government are studying measures to prevent a total
\ntelecommunications failure in West Java and Banten following
\nthreats to cut off power supplies by state electricity company PT
\nPLN.<\/p>\n
Telkom's director of operation and marketing Komarudin
\nSastrakoesoemah said on Thursday that Telkom and the government
\nhad held several meetings but no decisions had been made as yet.<\/p>\n
PLN has threatened to cut power supplies to all Telekom
\nfacilities in the two regions unless the phone company and its
\njoint operating (KSO) partner AriaWest International pay their
\npower bills, which amount to Rp 1.3 billion (US$115,000), by
\nWednesday of next week.<\/p>\n
Telkom and AriaWest have thus far been unable to pay their
\npower bills due a lingering dispute between them.<\/p>\n
A disruption in power supplies would cripple telecoms services
\nfor more than 600,000 subscribers and thousands more users in the
\nBanten and West Java. Analysts fear that this could trigger
\nsocial unrest ahead of the People's Consultative Assembly's
\nspecial session scheduled for Aug. 1.<\/p>\n
Assistant to the coordinating minister for the economy Dipo
\nAlam said on Thursday that one of the options being considered
\nwas to transfer responsibility for the telecoms services in the
\ntwo provinces to Telkom.<\/p>\n
Dipo -- who also heads a government mediation team trying to
\nseek a solution to the chronic dispute between Telkom and
\nAriawest -- said that the government had done its utmost to try
\nand facilitate an agreement between the parties, but to no avail.<\/p>\n
\"We have offered a middle way, to appoint a temporary chief
\noperating officer, but that too has been turned down by
\nAriaWest,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The government may transfer the operations to \"a national
\ncompany\" which could ensure the continuation of
\ntelecommunications services in the two provinces, Dipo said.<\/p>\n
Komarudin said Telkom was ready to take over AriaWest's
\noperations in the two regions and to finance them from its own
\nresources.<\/p>\n
The other choices available were to let the employees take
\nover the operations themselves, or for the government to take
\nover and finance the operations.<\/p>\n
But the government risks being sued by AriaWest if it takes
\nover the operations, Komarudin said.<\/p>\n
The government last month decided to institute a temporary
\nmanagement team in AriaWest's operational regions following the
\ndecline in services resulting from the prolonged dispute between
\nTelkom and AriaWest.<\/p>\n
But AriaWest opposed the measure.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Political, Social, and Security
\nAffairs Agum Gumelar, Coordinating Minister for the Economy
\nBurhanuddin Abdullah met on Wednesday with executives of Telkom
\nand AriaWest to try to find a solution to the problem.<\/p>\n
AriaWest's corporate communications manager Denni Koswara said
\non Thursday that AriaWest had told the meeting that it would not
\nchange its stance (tnt)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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