Directorate General of Post and Telecommunications regrets VoIP raids
Directorate General of Post and Telecommunications regrets VoIP raids
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police raids on allegedly illegal Voice over Internet Protocol
(VoIP) operators on Friday have not only upset industry players,
but also the Directorate General of Post and Telecommunications
which supervises the industry.
Gatot S. Dewabroto, spokesman for the Ministry of
Communication's directorate, called the raids arbitrary and in
contravention of prevailing regulations.
"We want to clarify that the raids were neither at our
initiative nor our policy.
"We were really shocked to hear about the raids," Gatot said.
The Jakarta Police, along with officials from the Jakarta
provincial office of post and telecommunications, raided 30 VoIPs
operators to force them to shut down their services. The police
launched the raids following a request from the Jakarta
provincial office of post and telecommunications, which say the
30 VoIP operators were running illegal operations.
Among the 30 raided companies were 12 operators who have been
awarded licenses by the government for the telephony business --
which, according to many experts, is another name for VoIP.
In a strong protest against the actions, the Indonesian
Service Providers' Association (APJII) along with five operators
threatened lawsuits against the police and the directorate's
Jakarta office.
"We are now in a vulnerable and difficult situation as the
operators plan to file lawsuits against us," Gatot said.
According to Gatot, although a decree has been issued for the
VoIP operators to stop their services, the decree does not come
into force until June 1 -- which means the operators are still
allowed to continue their operations until that day.
Under the decree, only five operators are licensed to run VoIP
businesses, that is state-owned companies PT Telkom, PT Indosat
and Indosat's cellular subsidiary PT Satelindo, and private
companies PT Gaharu Sejahtera and PT Atlassat Solusindo.
Gatot blasted the Jakarta office of post and
telecommunications for initiating and taking part in the raid,
saying under governmental Decree No. 25/2001 on VoIP, ISP and the
Internet business, the right to raid or probe illegal operators
or ask police to do so lie with the directorate rather than a
provincial office. The provincial office's rights are limited to
probing or cracking down on small-time operators such as those
running illegal radio stations or illegally offering postal
services.
Formerly, all departments, including the Ministry of
Communications, had regional offices in all the provinces which
worked under the direct supervision of the departments.
Following the implementation of the Autonomy Law on Jan. 1,
2001, all regional offices have been put under the supervision of
the provincial administration and thus no longer receive orders
from the ministry.
Gatot admitted that there was no coordination between the
Jakarta office of post and telecommunications and the directorate
before the former launched the raids on the VoIP operators
together with the police.
He, however, maintained that the Jakarta office of post and
telecommunications had overstepped its authority.
"They (the Jakarta office of post and telecommunications) have
insulted our authority," Gatot said.
Separately, the chief of the special crimes division of the
Jakarta Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Ike Edwin, said the initiative for
the raids came from the Jakarta office of post and
telecommunications, which the police presumed had coordinated
with the directorate.
He maintained that the police did the right thing in raiding
the operators.
"The raids were based on Law No. 39/1999 on
telecommunications. The directorate should carefully read the law
before commenting.
"I also regret that there was a lack of coordination between
the agencies. They need to do some introspection," he said.