Cambodians make more calls

Cambodians make more calls

JAKARTA (JP): Cambodians are making phone calls at twice the
number they were a year ago, according PT Indosat, the Indonesian
state-owned company which has a stake in some of the current
telephone projects in Cambodia.

Indosat spokesman J.B. Basuki said the 200 percent increase in
the number of local calls made by Cambodians follows the
restoration of the telephone networks there last year.

Indosat has a 49 percent stake in Camintel, the company
established in 1994 to repair and renovate the network which was
vandalized during political upheavals the previous two years. The
other 51 percent equity is held by the Cambodian Ministry of Post
and Telecommunications.

In the first phase, Camintel renovated various buildings,
including its headquarters in Phnom Penh, and devices in 20
provinces, he said.

Camintel hopes to complete expansion of the capacity of
telephone centrals in nine provinces this month. "In April, the
company expects to see the completion of capacity expansion
projects in nine other provinces and billing systems in 20
provinces," Basuki said.

Other short-term projects on the horizon include the
installation of 2,500 subscriber wireless local loop system and
public telephones in strategic locations.

In 1994 Indosat beat seven rivals for the US$15 million
project to restore the telecommunication networks.

The networks were laid down by Indosat, PT Telkom of Indonesia
and Australia's Telstra in the early 1990s to support the UN
Transitional Authority in Cambodia, which was overseeing the
first democratic election since the end of the civil war.

The system, using very small aperture terminal technology
through Indonesia's Palapa satellite, were disrupted and
vandalized for two years after UN forces left the Indochinese
country. (icn)