BRTI seeks to up Flexi's frequency fees
Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI) is urging the Ministry of Communication to increase Telkom Flexi's frequency fees amid protests from other cellular providers who cannot compete with Flexi, which offers its fee 20 times lower.
"We are currently working on a formula that will differentiate between Flexi's totally fixed stations and mobile stations. Once it is finished, we'll propose an increase in the frequency fees for Flexi's mobile stations," BRTI member Hery Nugroho said on Friday.
He said it could be finished by next month, "We still need to calculate the planned amount of the increase. For sure, it'll be higher than the current one, but lower than that of other cellular operators."
Telkom Flexi, a product of state-owned telecommunications firm PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), is a cellular service that uses fixed wireless with code division multiple access (CDMA) technology.
According to the Indonesian Cellular Telephone Association (ATSI), Flexi has to pay an annual frequency fee of only Rp 900,000 (US$105.88) per trunked radio unit (TRU), whereas private cellular operators have to pay an annual fee of Rp 18 million per TRU.
A TRU is a communication path between two or more points, typically between the telephone company's central office and one or more users. One TRU can usually cover 12 users.
Unlike other countries where frequency fees are based on the amount of frequency used, in Indonesia, frequency fees are based on the amount of TRU.
Data from the ATSI shows that frequency fees from cellular operators other than Telkom Flexi contributed around Rp 700 billion to the country's non-tax revenue last year. No official data was made available for Telkom Flexi.
ATSI secretary general Rudiantara said that the huge disparity between Telkom Flexi's frequency fees and other cellular operators' was "unfair".
"Telkom Flexi's license is for fixed-line services, which allows it to pay lower frequency fees. Yet, the technology that it uses is mobile. That's unfair," said Rudiantara.
Thus, he demanded that the government be fair and lower the frequency fees for cellular operators other than Telkom Flexi to balance the disparity.
He did not, however, mention the amount that the government should lower it, saying, "It still needs to be calculated."
Rudiantara added that the government should also determine which service category Telkom Flexi should fall into.
"If the government considers it (Telkom Flexi) a fixed-line service, then it should not give Telkom Flexi the privilege to have mobile technology. If Telkom Flexi is considered as mobile or limited-mobile service, then it should possess a license of the same kind," he said.
Telkom spokesman Mundarwiarso refused to comment, saying only: "Let's leave it to the BRTI to decide. We'll discuss the decision after it comes out."