The country's second largest cement maker PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa is set to increase annual production capacity to 20 million tons by 2009. Indocement, 65.12% owned by German giant Heidelberger Zement Ltd, has three plants with a total capacity of 15 million tons. The largest of the three plants is in Citeureup, Bogor, West Java, with an annual capacity of 10 million tons and this will be lifted to 15 million tons by 2009.

Third-largest mobile phone operator, PT Excelcomindo Pratama, signed up a million new users in just over two months, bringing its total number to 11.5 million by early this month, its chief said late on Wednesday (19/9/07). "The increase was due to our tariff cut to Rp1 per second, and other promotions in pre-paid services," its chief Hasnul Suhaimi, said, according to a Reuters report. The firm controlled by Telekom Malaysia Bhd is aiming to reach 14 million customers by the end of the year.

Altimo, the telecommunications arm of Russian conglomerate Alfa Group, plans to buy 20% to 25% of Indonesian mobile operator Excelcomindo Pratama, the newspaper Vedomosti reported Friday. It cited an unnamed member of a recent Russian government delegation to Indonesia as saying Altimo will take part in a tender for the Excelcomindo stake in the coming weeks.

Research by Bandung's Padjadjaran University (Unpad) on the mobile telecommunications industry has found cell phone operators' high earnings mean they could afford to lower their charges. At present, industry players boast an average EBITDA (earning before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of more than 60 percent, according to Ina Primiana, the head of Unpad's Economic Faculty Management Laboratory (LMFE).

Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiah says her administration has agreed with Lampung province to start building a bridge over the Sunda Strait separating Java and Sumatra in 2009. "I have proposed to the National Planning Body (Bappenas) to include the Sunda Strait bridge plan into the national spatial layout plan and we thank all legislative councils in Sumatra and Java for their support for the plan," she said Saturday.