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)