Excelcomindo secures $400m for expansion

JAKARTA (JP): PT Excelcomindo Pratama, which operates the GSM- XL cellular system, will sign an agreement in Bali today for a US$400 million syndicated loan from 22 overseas banks.

A senior Excelcomindo executive said Wednesday the loan would be arranged by Sakura Finance Asia Ltd, ING Barings, ANZ Investment Bank and Chase Manhattan Asia Ltd.

"The loan agreement is scheduled to be signed by Excelcomindo's president, Y.W. Junardy, and the participating banks," he said.

The loan would be used to finance Excelcomindo's expansion plan which includes new information technology and human resources development, he said.

Excelcomindo is the youngest of Indonesia's three global system for mobile communications (GSM) operators. The other two are PT Telkomsel and PT Satelindo.

Excelcomindo, which recently expanded its service to Bali and Lombok in its plan to go national, is a joint-venture company owned by Nynex Corp. of the United States (23.1 percent), Mitsui of Japan (4.2 percent), the Asian Infrastructure Fund (12.7 percent) and Indonesia's PT Telekomindo Prima Bhakti (60 percent).

Excelcomindo plans to start serving Surakarta and Semarang, Central Java, and Yogyakarta in June and Medan, North Sumatra, in September.

The company, which began operating in late 1996, has 65,000 customers in Greater Jakarta, West Java and East Java.

The company has signed roaming service agreements with 28 overseas operators in 20 nations. GSM-XL subscribers can now use their handsets in Australia, Britain, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore and some European countries. (icn)