AT&T, Komselindo launch CDMA system

JAKARTA (JP): AT&T of the United States and PT Komunikasi Selular Indonesia (Komselindo), a private analog cellular mobile telecommunications operator, launched yesterday a trial wireless network using code division multiple access (CDMA) technology.

AT&T said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post yesterday that the network, located in Bandung, West Java, is one of the first applications of CDMA interfaces outside of the United States. AT&T has installed a number of its Autoplex cell sites for the trial.

CDMA is being adopted around the world as the wireless industry standard to deliver digital cellular and personal communications services (PCS) and the system offers economical, clear and secure wireless communications, according to the statement.

"The trial system in Bandung allows us to test this promising new technology in the Indonesian environment," said Komselindo's president, Soedjono Kramadibrata.

CDMA can increase the capacity of analog cellular networks by as much as ten-fold and enables service providers to offer applications and improved service quality to customers. With CDMA, each conversation is specially encoded and decoded for each subscriber. As a result, multiple subscribers can share the same frequency band simultaneously and still hear only their own conversations.

"CDMA is an excellent technology that reduces overall network costs and provides exceptional voice quality," president of AT&T Network Systems Indonesia, Lie Gendo, said.

AT&T Network Systems' wireless equipment group is the only telecommunications equipment supplier that supports a breadth of wireless industry interfaces, including CDMA, time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS).

Komselindo is 65 percent owned by PT Elektrindo Nusantara, an affiliate of Bimantara Group, and 35 percent owned by the state- owned domestic telecommunications operator PT Telkom. It operates cellular mobile telecommunications, using AMPS technology, in West Java, North Sumatra and Sulawesi. (icn)