Almost 1.4m phone access line units installed in three years

JAKARTA (JP): Five contractors from state telecommunications operator PT Telkom announced on Saturday the installment of 1,371,548 access line units in the last three years.

Contractors' spokesman D. Siregar, said the achievement exceeded the three-year target of 1,268,000 lines agreed with PT Telkom in January, 1996.

"This achievement underlines our commitment to fulfill our responsibilities, despite mounting challenges brought about by the prolonged economic crisis," he said during a workshop in Cipanas, West Java.

The five contractors -- PT Pramindo Ikat Nusantara, PT Ariawest International, PT Mitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia (MGTI), PT Cable and Wireless Mitratel and PT Bukaka Singtel International -- installed the telephone lines under joint operation schemes with PT Telkom.

Siregar said the five companies invested about US$1.56 billion during the three years. About $567 million of the total investment is cash equity, he said.

Siregar said Rp 5.03 trillion or 45 percent of total revenue collected across five Telkom partners' units, was paid directly to Telkom, while the partners received 20 percent of earnings.

The five private contracts, awarded in January 1996, were to install and manage two million fixed lines in West Java (Ariawest), Central Java (MGTI), Sumatra (Pramindo), Kalimantan (Daya Mitra) and areas in eastern Indonesia (Bukaka Singtel). The management contracts terminate in 2010.

Siregar said the number of subscribers in the contractors' regions currently totaled 2.57 million subscribers, meaning that over one million subscribers have obtained telephone connections in the last three years.

He said that beside fulfilling the construction target for telephone lines, the five partners have been active implementing various technology transfers through training, education, research and development programs.

The partners have endeavored to implement appropriate technologies in order to improve operational efficiency, which in turn would lead to benefits for consumers, Siregar said.

The partners have also fulfilled their Universal Service Obligation in various villages within their regions, expanding the availability of telephone facilities.

Siregar said the memorandum stipulated that their service obligation would be realized if either five percent of capital expenditure was set aside to meet the obligation or 50 percent of the villages obtained access to telecommunications facilities.

"Partners has been successful to date in fulfilling government objectives for developing the Indonesian telecommunications industry. However, due to the current ongoing crisis, certain changes need to occur to be able to meet future development needs," he said.

Some observers have complained that the joint operation projects were not satisfactory, resulting in Telkom inefficiency. (gis)