Centralindo to install 150,000 new phone lines

JAKARTA (JP): PT Centralindo Panca Sakti, the cellular telecommunications firm operating in Central and East Java, plans to invest Rp 400 billion (US$176.6 million) to install some 150,000 new lines over the next five years.

The company, which has already marketed 6,200 lines in East Java and 3,000 lines in Central Java, plans to install at least 25,000 lines by the end of this year. Centralindo will install further base transceiver stations in Magelang, Kudus, Salatiga, Cilacap, Pekalongan (all in Central Java) and Kediri, Madiun, Pasuruan and Jember (all in East Java) to meet increasing demand.

The company said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post yesterday that the company expects its services to cover all of the cities in the two provinces by the end of this year.

Centralindo, run by the Djatikusumo family, provides cellular mobile telecommunications using the advanced mobile phone service (AMPS) under a revenue-sharing scheme with the state-owned domestic telecommunications operator PT Telkom.

Three systems of cellular mobile phones are used in Indonesia -- AMPS (used by Centralindo and PT Komselindo), Nordic Mobile Telephones (used by PT Rajasa Hasanah Perkasa) and Global System for Mobile communications (used by PT Satelindo, PT Telkomsel and PT Exelkomindo).

Centralindo has also appointed seven official distributors which represent branded handsets -- Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Reach and Sony.

Cities which are currently covered by Centralindo's AMPS services include Semarang, Solo, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Sidorajo and Malang. (icn)