Freeport, Telkom sign telecoms deal
Freeport, Telkom sign telecoms deal
JAKARTA (JP): PT Freeport Indonesia Company has signed a US$10-million deal with PT Telkom for the installation of telephone lines and integrated service digital networks in the newly-established town of Kuala Kencana in Irian Jaya.
"Freeport will install 1,800 lines with an integrated service digital network (ISDN) in the new town. The facilities will be extendible to Tembaga Pura, the main mining area of Freeport," Telkom's general manager for the country's eastern region, Koesprawoto, told reporters after signing the deal yesterday with Freeport president Hoediono Hoed.
Kuala Kencana is being built by Freeport, a copper and gold mining company operating in Irian Jaya. The new town, located on a 17,750-hectare area near Timika, was inaugurated by President Soeharto on Tuesday. Up to 20,000 people will be able to live in the US$400-million town when the construction of housing facilities has been completed in the middle of 1996.
Koesprawoto said that the telecommunications facilities will be ready in June next year.
"The operation (of the facilities) will be handled by Telkom, which will receive 30 percent of revenue. We will hand over the business next year to PT Bukaka Singtel, one of Telkom's five private partners in its join operation scheme to install two million telephone lines in the country within the next three years," he added.
Under the scheme, Bukaka Singtel, a joint venture between the Bukaka group of Indonesia and Singapore Telecom, will install 403,000 lines in Indonesia's eastern region.
According to Koesprawoto, there are currently some 20,000 telephone lines in Irian Jaya, of which some 1,400 lines are installed in Timika.
"Telecommunications in Timika are very important. A public outlet for telecommunications services in the city receives revenues of about Rp 140 million per month," Koesprawoto said.
Meanwhile, Hoed said that Freeport, which started its business in 1967, has about 15,000 employees in Irian Jaya. (icn)