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)