Government sets Internet subscription fees

JAKARTA (JP): The Government has issued a new regulation which sets the country's highest and lowest rates for Internet subscription fees.

The latest newsletter of the state-owned international telecommunications operator PT Indosat stated that the regulation is based on a decree of the Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications, which came into effect on July 30.

According to the regulation, the monthly fees on Internet subscription for individuals using an analog telephone dialing system should be set at a minimum of Rp 15,000 (US$6.43) and a maximum of Rp 18,000; and for individuals using a digital dialing system at between Rp 75,000 and Rp 90,000.

Subscribers using local area networks of computers with an analog telephone dialing system should be charged at between Rp 200,000 and Rp 240,000 per month and those with a digital dialing system at between Rp 1 million and Rp 1.2 million.

The standardization of subscription fees for Internet services was set due to the increasingly-sharp competition in the rapidly- expanding Internet sector.

In 1995, the government introduced a regulation allowing just small-scale enterprises run by young professionals to provide Internet services. Big firms, therefore, do not have the opportunity to enter the Internet service business. Since then, at least 30 licenses have been issued to companies intending to provide Internet services but only 20 of them are currently in operation.

Commercial use of Internet in Indonesia began about two years ago. In facing the competition, a number of Internet providers are offering lower subscription fees to attract more subscribers. On the other hand, many users are less careful to realize that the quality of services might be poor due to the low subscription fees.

The July regulation also sets the hourly tariffs for individual Internet subscription at between Rp 2,000 and Rp 2,400 for the analog dialing system and at between Rp 8,000 and Rp 9,600 for the digital system. The rates for a local area network are set at between Rp 10,000 and Rp 12,000 for the analog system and at between Rp 30,000 and Rp 36,000 for the digital system.

Tariffs for usage of over 200 hours per month are set at between Rp 400,000 and Rp 480,000 for individual users (analog) and between Rp 1.6 million and Rp 1.92 million (digital), and for local area networks at between Rp 2 million and Rp 2.4 million (analog) and at between Rp 6 million and Rp 7.2 million (digital).

According to the newsletter, the government has also introduced another regulation which eliminates import duties on terminals for satellite-based telecommunications services.

The Ministry of Finance has classified satellite-based telecommunications terminals as one type similar to mobile cellular telecommunications handsets. Thus, beginning April this year, any terminal for International Maritime Satellite services is exempted from import duties.

The government previously charged a 25 percent import duty on such terminals besides a 10 percent value added tax which is now still valid. (icn)