Excelcomindo launches services in Central Java

Excelcomindo launches services in Central Java

YOGYAKARTA (JP): PT Excelcomindo Pratama, one of the country's
seven cellular telephone operators, will launch its services in
Central Java's Yogyakarta, Surakarta and Semarang as a part of
its nationwide expansion.

PT Excelcomindo's marketing and sales operation general
manager, Hermanto Murniadi, said here yesterday that the grand
opening would be held in Semarang on Monday.

He said Excelcomindo had built 24 base telephone stations
(BTS) to support its services in the three cities, and the
company expected to net 5,000 local subscribers by the end of the
year.

Each BTS, which consists of three transceivers, covers a
radius of 20 to 30 kilometers. In a flat area, the same BTS would
cover a radius of 50 to 60 kilometers.

Nationally, the company plans to install 400 BTS to meet the
target of 180,000 customers by the end of the year, about 15
percent of the national market share. Presently only 300 BTS have
been installed for 107,000 customers.

"We still have four months left to reach the target," Hermanto
said.

Starting its operation in Greater Jakarta and Bandung in
October last year, Excelcomindo claimed its services covered
Bali; three East Java cities of Surabaya, Malang and Madiun; two
Central Java cities of Surakarta and Semarang; and Yogyakarta.
Lombok is to be covered within one or two weeks and North Sumatra
by the end of the year.

"Next year's target includes West Sumatra, South Sulawesi and
Lampung," he said.

The global system for mobile communications was introduced for
the first time in Indonesia by Telkomsel in 1994 in Batam.

Indonesia currently has seven cellular telephone operators
running three different systems. The other six are PT Teleseara,
PT Metrosel, PT Komselindo, PT Mobisel, PT Satelindo and PT
Telkomsel.

Excelcomindo is a joint venture between two Indonesian
companies (PT Telekomindo Prima Bhakti and Santana) and three
foreign companies (Nynex Asia Ltd., Mitsui and Asia
Infrastructure Fund Indonesia Ltd.) The Indonesian companies hold
60 percent of the shares. The rest belongs to the foreign
companies. (swa)