Four telecom consortia sign joint venture deals

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): Executives from the four consortia which won contracts to build some two million telephone lines in various parts of Indonesia signed joint venture agreements yesterday which will enable them to start construction early next year.

The signing, witnessed by Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave and president of the state-owned domestic telecommunications company PT Telkom Setyanto P. Santosa, took place during the closing ceremony of the international three-day telecommunications summit at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

Winners of the joint-operation contracts, which were announced last June, consist of the Pramindo Ikat consortium (to establish 460,000 lines in Sumatra), the Tiga-A consortium (500,000 lines in West Java), Mitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia (440,000 lines in Central Java), Daya Mitra Malindo (237,000 lines in Kalimantan) and Bukaka Singtel International (403,000 lines in Eastern Indonesia).

Only four consortia, however, joined the signing yesterday because members of the Bukaka Singtel International consortium, which was represented yesterday by Allen Lew of Singapore Telecom International and Jusuf Kalla of Bukaka Telekomindo International, had already signed their joint venture agreement in Singapore on Jan. 18.

Signatories of the joint venture from Pramindo Ikat were Thomas Subijanto, the president of PT Astratel Nusantara; Mukarno, the chairman of the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication's Cooperative; Nuryana Prasetyo, the president of PT Intertel Pratama Media; and L. Miallet, the CEO of France Telecom's France Cables et Radio.

From Tiga-A, the signatories were Gatot S. Kharmadji, the representative of PT Artimas Kencana Murni; Edwin Soeryadjaya, the representative of PT Aria Bahtera Internusa; John Troy, the executive director of Asian Infrastructure Fund; and Richard J. Callahan, the president of US West International.

Signatories from Mitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia were D. Siregar, the president of Widya Duta Informindo; Safwan Natanagara, the executive vice president of Indosat; Ross Abbott, the CEO of Telstra in Indonesia; Kazuhiro Yaginuma, the representative of NTT in Indonesia; Lukman Sugito, the chairman of Kopnatel; Ardhim Ichwan, the chairman of Kopindosat; Eddy Erwando, the representative of Kokarindo; and Hendarso Hadiparmono, the chairman of PT Krida Salindo Sentosa.

From Daya Mitra Malindo, the signatories were Syed Mustaffa, of Telecom Malaysia Bhd.; Benny Nasution, of PT Intidaya Sistelindomitra; Hasim Sumiana, of PT Alatief Nusakarya Corp.; Wong Peng Koon, of TM Communications (UK) Ltd.; Ronald Seah, of American International Assurance Co. Ltd.; and Rachmat Badruddin, of Koptuindo.

The five projects are part of the government's program to install five million telephone lines by the end of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan, which will end in March 1999.

Joint operation contracts, which will be signed between the five consortia and the state-owned domestic telecommunications company PT Telkom later this year, will guarantee Telkom an estimated total revenue of Rp 13.98 trillion (US$6.2 billion) from initial investor payments, guaranteed annual minimum revenues and 30 percent of distributable operation revenues throughout the operational period of 15 years. (pwn)