Alcatel Telecom launches its new GSM terminals

JAKARTA (JP): Alcatel Telecom, a subsidiary of Alcatel Alsthom of France, is aiming to penetrate Indonesia's tightly competitive market of Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications networks.

The company introduced here yesterday its new series of GSM terminals -- the HC 800 and HC 1000 -- which it claims are the smallest and lightest handsets in the world.

Alcatel's director for the Asia/Pacific area, Christian Delage, said that the new terminals offer unique features, setting the products apart from their competitors.

Alcatel has appointed PT Sedaya Multi Investama, an affiliate of the Astra Group, as Alcatel's sole distributor in Indonesia.

Based on data compiled by BIS Shrapnel, the analog mobile cellular telephone handset market in Indonesia was controlled last year by Motorola (45 percent), NEC (15 percent), Ericsson (30 percent) and others (10 percent). The digital handset market is 40 percent controlled by Motorola, 10 percent by Nokia, 30 percent by Ericsson and 20 percent by others.

Sedaya's marketing manager, T. Eugene, said that his company expects to market some 30,000 units by the end of 1996.

There are currently some 200,000 mobile cellular telephone subscribers in Indonesia. The figure is a combination of GSM, Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) and Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) network users.

Alcatel is one of the major suppliers for the development of the country's telecommunications networks. The company supplies equipment to the state-owned domestic telecommunications operator, PT Telkom, and one of the country's GSM operators, PT Satelindo.

Alcatel Alsthom and PT Elektrindo Nusantara, a subsidiary of the Bimantara Group, previously set up PT Alcatel Enkomindo, a joint venture dealing in telephone cable construction and maintenance.

Alcatel, France's second-largest company, has also signed an accord with Bimantara -- controlled by President Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo -- to set up telecommunications projects worth more than US$100 million. The projects are for the manufacturing of equipment, the installation of submarine fiber optic cables and installation of cable networks. (icn)