Fixed-wireless won't slow down GSM

Tony Hotland, Jakarta

The rapid expansion of fixed-wireless services will not have any significant impact on the growth of the Global Service for Mobile Communications (GSM) industry, telecommunications players say.

Indonesian Association of Cellular Telephone (ATSI) secretary general Rudiantara said GSM and fixed-wireless services that used the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology targeted different market segments.

"The technologies have two different (market) segments in terms of the mobility of users. There are people who travel a lot and there are people who mostly stay within one area," Rudiantara told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

The presence of a CDMA-based fixed-wireless service has provoked predictions about a massive switch from GSM technology as research has found about 75 percent of GSM users do not have high mobility.

A fixed-wireless service is a phone service that has limited cellular mobility within a designated area. It charges a rate equivalent to that of a fixed-line service.

PT Indosat cellular marketing director of telecommunications Hasnul Suhaimi said the services could attract differing markets due to their distinctive strengths and weaknesses.

However, Rudiantara said the fixed-wireless service could badly affect the growth of GSM in the longer term as long as there was no revision of the frequency fee.

"The government needs to revise the amount of frequency fees paid between operating fixed-wireless service and GSMs to keep both services running healthily," Rudiantara said.

The Usage Right Fee (BHP) is the fee a provider pays to the government each year for using a radio frequency. It is one of several costs making up the total cellular fee that is passed on to customers.

Rudiantara pointed out GSM operators had to pay frequency fees of 18 to 20 times more than fixed-wireless service providers, although it was the GSM operators that provided the fixed- wireless services.

PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) has Telkom Flexi for fixed-wireless service and Simpati, Kartu Halo, and Kartu As as GSM services.

PT Indonesian Satellite Corporation (Indosat) has StarOne as its fixed-wireless service, and Mentari, IM3, and Matrix for GSM service.

Rudiantara said the government should bring down the frequency fee paid for operating GSM frequencies, but only said "the lower the better" when asked how low the fee should be.

The number of GSM subscribers is estimated at about 22 million, while for fixed-wireless service is less than 2 million -- with Telkom Flexi dominating the sector.