ACeS enters Taiwan

JAKARTA (JP): PT ACeS, a subsidiary of publicly-listed PT PSN which will operate regional satellite-based cellular phones, has signed a deal with Taiwan's Comsearch Enterprise to become its national service provider (NSP) in Taiwan.

PSN said in a statement here yesterday that the agreement had a 10-year term and called for minimum guaranteed payments to ACeS of US$5 million annually for airtime.

The announcement marked the signing of ACeS's fourth NSP after Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. It also marked the first agreement with an independent company since all previous NSPs have been ACeS founding partners.

Approximately 4.6 percent of Taiwan's population (about 992,000) used cellular phones as of 1996, ranking the nation seventh among Asia-Pacific markets in terms of penetration, PSN said.

Comsearch's president, Thomas Chang, said that he expected to require 36,000 ACeS mobile telephones by the end of 1999.

ACeS, which will operate Garuda satellites, is expected to launch its service by mid-1999. (icn)