Consumers body calls for lower phone tariffs

Consumers body calls for lower phone tariffs

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) has
again criticized the cost of telephone calls, saying they are
unrealistically high.

YLKI's Zoemrotin K. Soesilo said Saturday the public did not
realize that phone calls in Indonesia cost much more than in
neighboring countries.

She said the rates state-owned PT Telkom charged remained
unrealistically high although services had improved.

"It's just gimmick if Telkom offers discount or installment
systems on new installations. The domestic call pulse charges are
still high and that's burdening the public," she told a public
hearing organized by the Kompas daily and Telkom.

She said the domestic call pulse of Rp 115/US$0.04 per two or
three minutes (depending on radius) was about 70 percent more
than in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

People could probably understand that Telkom has to please its
shareholders with big yearly profits "but please don't burden the
public," she said

Telecommunications analysts said Indonesia was one of the few
countries in Asia to have a flexible telecommunications policy.

Besides Hong Kong, Indonesia is the only Asian country which
reviews its domestic telephone tariffs yearly, making adjustments
for inflation and Telkom's performance.

The last tariff adjustment was in January when local calls
were raised from Rp 110 (US$0.04) to Rp 115 a pulse (three
minutes for calls made within a 20-kilometer radius, and two
minutes for calls made within 20-kilometer-to-30-kilometer
radius).

Meanwhile, telephone installation fees in Greater Jakarta were
reduced to Rp 800,000 for business subscribers, Rp 590,000 for
households and Rp 410,000 for subscribers with social missions.

Zoemrotin said Telkom should become more efficient so it could
improve its performance without raising tariffs.

Telkom's operating revenue is 80 percent derived from the
regional division II (Greater Jakarta), 15 percent from division
V (East Java) and the remainder from the five privatized areas.

Telkom's operating revenue was Rp 5.07 trillion last year.

The company reported a Rp 398.95 billion net profit in the
first quarter this year, 29.87 percent more than the first
quarter last year.

Telkom listed on the New York, London, Jakarta and Surabaya
stock exchanges in March 1996 when its had 4.32 million telephone
lines.

The general manager of Telkom's division II, Guntur Siregar,
said there were 1.7 million lines in Greater Jakarta.

"By the end of this year, we expect to sell 500,000 more
lines," he said.

He said Telkom would continue to install more lines, speed up
repair services, build better pay phones, and improve its after
sales service and payment systems. (icn)