FCCI protests raids

JAKARTA: Forum Calling Card Indonesia (FCCI) protested raids on a number of phone calling card operators conducted last week by the police, the city transportation agency and state-owned PT Telkom.

G. Asmoro Edi, the secretary-general of FCCI, said over the weekend that the three institutions had no reason to conduct raids as all the operators were legal and had licenses.

Calling cards have a pin number and enable users to make cheaper calls.

"We don't understand why they conduct the raids. We're all legal. Besides having a license from the transportation ministry's Directorate General of Post and Telecommunications, all FCCI members have signed deals with PT Telkom in Jakarta," he said.

According to him, only the Directorate General of Post and Telecommunications, which has an investigative team, has the right to investigate or raid phone calling card operators.

Among the members of FCCI that were raided were PT Vasindo Telememo, PT Moratel, PT Jasnita and PT Natrindo. During the raids, Natrindo's gateway system worth Rp 300 million was confiscated, while the other operators were threatened with closure.

FCCI, which has 22 members -- 15 in Jakarta and seven in Surabaya -- contribute an income of Rp 24 billion per year to publicly listed PT Telkom. --JP