3G re-tender criteria to be set
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
With the planned re-tender of the 3-G cellular frequency only a month away, the Ministry of Communications and Information will likely give priority to operators who already have a established market, a ministry official says.
"One of the criteria for eligible bidders is they have to have a market already. This is a normal measure to assure that the frequency will be fully utilized for the public benefit," said Ministry of Communications and Information's director general for Posts and Telecommunications Basuki Yusuf Iskandar.
The ministry would officially come up with other defining criteria on Wednesday to enable the bidding process to be finalized at the end of November, he said.
"The winning bidders, to be announced in December, will be given an allocation of 10 MHz each, which will be feasible business-wise and can accommodate future expansion," Basuki added.
In the November bidding, there will be 60 MHz of the 1,900 frequency spectrum up for grabs.
Current license holders for the spectrum are PT Cyber Access Communications (CAC) with 15 MHz and PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler (NTS) with 10 MHz. However, both companies have yet to operate services since securing licenses through auction in 2003.
Indonesia's largest cellular-phone firm Telkomsel and Excelcomindo have each received 5 MHz frequency bandwidth slots to run their 3G-services trial.
3G technology enables cellular subscribers to enjoy video streaming, video conferencing through cellular phones, in addition to a much faster data transfer rates.
Meanwhile, the country's second largest telecommunication operator PT Indosat has been guaranteed a 5 MHz slot in exchange for moving its StarOne CDMA services away from the spectrum.
"Later on, each operator will receive 10 MHz charged at the November price," said Basuki, adding that aside from the up-front fee, there would be annual bandwidth fee charged to the operators.
It is estimated that the ministry will reap up to Rp 5 trillion (US$520 million) in revenue by maximizing the allocation of the potential 60 MHz frequencies.
In Australia, a five-megahertz frequency allocation for third generation (3G) cellular technology was sold for US$80 million, while in the United States the price ranges from between $10 million and $20 million.
Previously, Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan A. Djalil said that the government would not revoke licenses already given to CAC and NTS.
CAC has sold 60 percent of its share to Hong Kong's Hutchinson Telecommunications International, while NTS sold its 51 percent share to Malaysian Maxis Communication Berhad.