BRTI expected to tidy up messy telecom sector

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The newly-established Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI) is expected to clean up the current mess that the telecommunications industry finds itself in and issue new regulations urgently needed to ensure fair competition and protect consumers, experts said.

Although there are widespread doubts about the amount of independence that BRTI actually has, the industry watchdog has been given a mandate to take measures to protect the interest of consumers. This could include ensuring transparency in the calculations of phone charges or regulating the premium call business of phone companies, Huzna Zahir, an officer with the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) stated.

"We've been receiving many complaints regarding the telecom industry's services, especially about PT Telkom (state-owned telecom company)," she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

She added that more than half of the complaints came from telephone customers who were charged for expensive premium calls they claimed they did not make.

"If we file a complaint with Telkom, usually we get an answer like 'according to our records, the calls were apparently dialed from you number', and that according to them is the final word," she said. "I think customers need to be informed about how Telkom, or any other company, make their price calculations and I hope BRTI can address such problems."

According to a ministerial decree on BRTI issued by the Ministry of Transportation last week, the body will regulate and oversee telecommunications services and networks; issuing licenses; settling disputes; and setting a benchmark for quality of service.

Separately, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Telecommunications Society (Mastel) Komarudin SK told the Post that the urgent problems to be addressed by BRTI included formulation of a regulation on universal service obligations (USO) and to revise the regulation on interconnection fee calculations.

"For example, we don't have a regulation to ensure the implementation of USO, which is supposed to provide telecom services in remote areas," he said. "Besides that, the revision in interconnection fee calculations between phone operators is also urgent to ensure fair competition."

Indonesian fixed-line telephone services have been controlled for about 30 years solely by Telkom. It was only last year that another Indonesian telecom giant PT Indosat was allowed to compete with the state company.

However, the road to liberalization could be a bumpy one as most of the regulations issued by the government -- Telkom's owner -- are without teeth.

Reportedly, since the government opened the fixed-line services to other companies, there have been some dubious practices in the competition for customers.

For example, in October last year, Indosat's international number 001 was blocked by an "anonymous hacker" and customers who complained about the trouble to Telkom were told to use Telkom's new international number 017 instead.

Such skullduggery eventually turned potential investors off. Telstra, France Telecom and Deustche Telekom were just a few of the investors who backed away from Indonesia due to corruption in the legal system and a volatile investment climate.

Nevertheless, hopes and expectations are still high that BRTI can help repair some of the damage. Players and stakeholders expect BRTI to fulfill the urgent need to ensure fair competition, lure more investment and protect customers.