Communication isn't cheap yet

The government apparently has to reap the harvest of protests from the business circles and the society, concerning the issuance of operational licenses -exclusively- for the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service to five players only.

In the near future, five operators of VoIP or Internet-based telephone for public necessity will soon provide the service to the society as they have already have the operational licenses.

Many circles evaluate that the criteria to issue the license is unclear --and why it is given to five operators only-- so that there is an impression that there is an ulterior motive behind the licensing. The government policy on the issuance of VoIP service for the public, of course, sparks jealousy among the circles expecting to obtain such a license for many the years.

Furthermore, such a policy increasingly reaffirms the assumption of many people that the government acts halfheartedly in giving up the right to monopolize telecommunications. Anyway, as a trend toward free market that the government practices at present, it is appropriate if many monopolistic spheres are given up as soon as possible.

It is better if the government --and a company having a monopoly on telecommunications-- reaffirm their commitment to ending the exclusive rights as scheduled.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta