Call-back services vex local operators

JAKARTA (JP): The country's international telecommunications providers consider illegal call-back services operated by overseas firm a major headache for the international call business.

The state-owned international telecommunications carrier PT Indonesian Satellite Corporation (Indosat) and privately-owned PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo) agreed that such practices will reduce state revenues because these call-back service providers are based in foreign countries, targeting customers in Indonesia.

Indosat spokesman J.B. Basuki told The Jakarta Post here over the weekend that though the government has banned call-back services, overseas operators are still attempting to penetrate the Indonesian market.

Call-back service providers offer international calls costing far less than those approved by the government. They usually target big multi-national enterprises and hotels as customers.

Clients intending to use call-back services just need to dial toll-free numbers, give the operator their own number and the number they want to call, and wait to be called back by the operator.

The charge is then debited by the operator from a bank account or credit card.

Satelindo spokesman Eddy Thoyib told the Post that such practices caused the loss of much foreign exchange.

According to Basuki, call-back service providers are based in countries offering low long-distance telephone charges.

The government banned both call-back service providers and users in Indonesia with a ministerial decree signed by Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave in August 1994.

Director of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria Purawidjaja said an international telecommunications regulation also bans such practices.

Telecommunications analysts said that international calls are still expensive in Indonesia due to the high cost of developing the necessary infrastructure.

Analysts say that Indonesia's international calls are actually cheaper than those in many other nations.

"Indonesia's tariffs, for example, are cheaper than those in Saudi Arabia (by 47 percent), Egypt (43 percent), Japan (28 percent), Singapore (20 percent), Malaysia and India (16 percent)," Basuki said.

However, calls are more expensive than in South Korea (by 39 percent), Canada (38 percent), Sweden (35 percent) and Greece (29 percent).

Phone sex

Basuki also warned the public not to dial telephone numbers advertised in the local print media as "hot partylines".

The advertisements use Indosat's access code and Sweden's country code, 46.

"Indosat is not involved in the advertisements but it will charge Rp 6,180 (US$2.6) per minute for each call," Basuki said.

Indosat recorded at least 5,207 calls to the Swedish numbers, with telephone traffic charges of Rp 138.69 million in the March- April period and 8,062 calls worth Rp 242.79 million in the April-May period.

"There are already some complaints from some customers claiming that they did not make any calls to Sweden, but we have the bills. We can't block the numbers because there has been no request from the government," Basuki said.

Indosat blocked several numbers from Hong Kong and Malaysia a couple of years ago after members of the House of Representatives persuaded the government to cut off several phone sex lines in those countries. (icn)