Centralindo to install 150,000 new phone lines

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)