C&W, Telekom Malaysia duel for RI firm stakes
C&W, Telekom Malaysia duel for RI firm stakes
JAKARTA (JP): PT Daya Mitra Malindo, a consortium which won a
contract to operate telecommunications facilities in Kalimantan,
remains in trouble in spite of the plan of Cable & Wires (C&W) of
Britain to replace Telekom Malaysia Bhd. as a shareholder.
A source at a telecommunications firm said here yesterday that
Daya Mitra will likely face a penalty by state-owned PT Telkom at
the end of this month due to its tardiness to start operating in
Kalimantan due to recent trouble among prospective and current
shareholders.
No Daya Mitra executives were available for comment yesterday.
The government selected five consortia for joint operation
contracts to establish and operate about two million telephone
lines in the country's five regions over a 15-year period. The
contracts officially started in early January.
Daya Mitra groups ALatieF Corporation which was established by
Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief, PT Intidaya Sistelindomitra
which is owned by Telkom and businessman Tanri Abeng, tea
producers' cooperative Kopthindo, Telekom Malaysia, Singapore-
based American International Group Inc. and TM Communications of
Hong Kong. The consortium was originally required to install and
operate 237,000 phone lines in Kalimantan by 1999 for 15 years.
Telekom Malaysia, with a 25 percent share in Daya Mitra, has
been widely reported since December to be considering withdrawing
from the project due to unsolved differences with its Indonesian
partners.
AFP reported on Wednesday that Telekom Malaysia denied it had
pulled out from Daya Mitra.
Chief executive Mohamed Said Mohamed Ali said Telekom Malaysia
was awaiting clarification from Telkom on the proposed joint
operation scheme.
Replacement
Meanwhile, the source in Jakarta said yesterday that the
government had told Daya Mitra to look for another foreign
telecommunications operator to replace Telekom Malaysia as its
partner. C&W of Britain, PTT Telecom of the Netherlands and Dacom
of South Korea have proposed replacing Telekom Malaysia.
During a visit to Jakarta earlier this month, president of PTT
Telecom Ben J.M. Verwayen said that his company was not in a
leading position for the partnership with Daya Mitra, though PTT
has a close relationship with a Bakrie Group subsidiary led by
Tanri Abeng.
"Daya Mitra will probably select C&W as its new partner", the
source said.
C&W has failed in two of the country's telecommunications
tenders -- for share acquisition in PT Satelindo (which selected
DeTeMobil of Germany to buy 25 percent of its shares) and in PT
Telkomsel which selected PTT Telecom Netherlands to acquire 17.28
percent of its shares.
Meanwhile Telkom has announced that it would not be affected
by the delayed project in Kalimantan.
Telkom shares closed Wednesday Rp 25 lower at Rp 3,750 on the
Jakarta Stock Exchange. (icn)