Cellular phones the in-style accessory
Cellular phones the in-style accessory
By Yudha Kartohadiprodjo
JAKARTA (JP): "Beep! Beep!" A cellular phone near you starts
to ring and after a long second of searching and stumbling
someone stands up and leaves the meeting room.
A meeting room? Not always. Cellular phones, popularly called
hand phones here, are "cool but common thing" among Jakartans
these days.
From shopping mall corridors to elementary school hallways,
cell phones have become a mandatory accessory for those who want
to be "modern and connected".
"In Jakarta, traffic jams are regular, while a working pay
phone is rare to find. A cellular phone is the only way to
communicate now," said Denny, a young consultant.
Young people like Denny were initially not the main target for
cellular phone companies, which in the last decade focused on
those with a high income and more prominent position.
Today, there are 1.6 million cellular phone subscribers in
Indonesia, a figure which beats many projections.
These subscribers are served by seven cellular operators with
three different systems: GSM, AMPS and NMT 450. The most common
system widely accessible now is GSM, a digital system more common
in Asia and Europe.
Highly active and mobile, technology savvy individuals like
Dennis set a high priority in staying in contact with their
business and loved ones. Many even prefer to give their
colleagues only their cellular phone number, a trend that
developed in countries that are more highly wired.
Young people however, are no longer alone in riding the wired
society. Cellular phones are now also common among students and
housewives.
"Well my phone looks nice, and I can call my servants to ask
them what they need from the supermarket" said Sari, a housewife,
while cradling her shiny four million rupiah Nokia 8810 phone in
a shopping mall.
Sari is considering buying another cell phone for her junior
high school daughter for security reasons.
"With all those riots, I feel more comfortable if I can
contact my daughter anytime I want, especially with the
decreasing price of cell phones," said Sari.
She quickly added that she would buy a cheaper model to avoid
her daughter's school friends feeling envious.
In many ways, the popularity of cellular phones in Indonesia
was helped by the introduction of prepaid cards, released in late
November 1997. The service attracts many clients, who other wise
could not afford the operator's fee.
"Prepaid cards are more suitable for market conditions at this
time. Our customer can buy vouchers whenever they have money
without worrying to pay bills at the end of the month," said
Tina, a public relations officer from PT Telkomsel.
Right now, Telkomsel claims about 41 percent of the GSM
service market share in Indonesia. Their service is divided into
two components: Simpati Nusantara, a prepaid calling card and
Kartu Halo, a postpaid card.
With in fact a similar coverage to Halo, Simpati Nusantara is
the more popular of the two. In Telkomsel's case, the coverage
extends to 400 cities in Indonesia without a roaming fee and is
supported by 11,000 transceiver stations.
After purchasing the introductory package, a subscriber can
buy refill vouchers ranging in price from Rp 100,000 to Rp
300,000.
In addition to Telkomsel, other operators are also offering a
similar service. Satelindo introduced the Mentari card, while
Exelcomindo also issued the ProXL card.
To make it easy for customers, operators also sell refill
vouchers through ATM machines and banks. Simpati is available
through BCA and BNI ATM machines, ProXL is available through BCA
and Lippobank machines, and Mentari can be purchased through Arta
Graha Bank and BCA machines.
The recent high demand for introductory packages has caused
their price to sky rocket. While the official price for prepaid
introductory packages range from Rp 150,000 to Rp 200,000 at Roxy
Mas, many vendors sell them for Rp 400,000.
"We only have a limited supply," said Jennifer, a vendor at
Roxy shopping mall.
She added that people are even willing to pay as much as Rp
800,000 to buy a phone number which they believe will bring them
good luck.
"Phone numbers that are easy to remember and contain more than
two eights are sought after, especially by Chinese buyers,"
Jennifer added.
A source from the industry, speaking on condition of
anonymity, revealed the ongoing practice of calling card
distributors to raise the current price of the introductory
package.
Operators like Telkomsel are aware of the practice, yet claim
they are unable to stop it.
"It is mainly up to the market to decide the end price," said
Tina. She added that some of the numbers were auctioned at higher
prices because they were easy to memorize.
In reality, the phone card business is considered the main
profit center for most cellular phone retailers.
"The market for handsets is so competitive now that we can
only make up to Rp 100,000 per set. We make it up through the
sale of phone cards," said Jennifer.
At the other end of the industry, the demand for prepaid
calling cards is beyond the coping capacity of cellular
operators. Despite the high demand, the industry can not increase
the price of the card due to government regulations. One of the
industry's strategies is to attract customers to subscribe to
postpaid services by lowering the monthly fee.
Prepaid calling cards, indeed, are not for everyone.
"I bought a prepaid calling card before, but it ran out a
little bit too fast," said Denny. He now chooses postpaid calling
cards after having to buy prepaid vouchers on a weekly basis.
Denny complained however, that although cell phones have
become a common consumer good, many people have yet to learn how
to use them properly.
"A cell phone rang with a cute theme from a popular song while
I was watching a movie at 21 Cineplex recently. What the owner
did however, was not cute at all. He continued his conversation
despite our protest," said Denny.
It seems that despite the sophisticated phone and modern
lifestyle they embrace, Jakartans are still yet to embrace cell
phone etiquette.