Govt allows two more radio phone operators

Govt allows two more radio phone operators

JAKARTA (JP): The government will license two more firms to
provide telecommunications through the radio trunking system,
bringing the total number of such operators to seven.

Director General of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria
Purawidjaja said yesterday that the three firms operating radio
phone services in Indonesia are PT Mobilkom Telekomindo, PT
Jastrindo Dinamika and PT Maesa Nusatama.

Djakaria said two other firms have been awarded preliminary
licenses, namely PT Primacom, a unit of the Salim Group, and PT
Aditarina, which is affiliated with businesswoman Endang
Mokodompit.

The infrastructure for a radio trunking system requires a
smaller investment than cellular phone networks, which, he said,
will lower the customers' air-time charges.

The 400 megahertz system is also able to transmit data and
connect to household telephones, although it is usually offered
to companies or institutions, not individuals.

Jastrindo -- whose shareholders include the employee
cooperatives of PT Indosat, PT Telkom and the Ministry of
Tourism, Post and Telecommunications -- has established a
connection fee of Rp 200,000 (US$86), air-time traffic charges of
Rp 100,000 ($43) per month and a frequency utilization fee of Rp
105,000 ($45.20) per year.

Meanwhile, Mobilkom -- owned by PT Telekomindo Prima Bhakti,
PT Mitratelindo Perdana, PT Inka Forindo Jaya, Jasmine
International Plc. Inc. of Thailand, Goldman Sachs and
International Wireless Communication of the United States -- has
set an air-time rate of Rp 150 (6.5 U.S. cents) per minute.

Djakaria added that Indonesia is trying to retain its
leadership in the communications satellite industry in the Asia-
Pacific region.

He said that the working group of the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on remote sensing,
meteorology, satellite communications and research and technology
is presently holding a three-day meeting here.

"Through international meetings, like this one, we want to
share our experiences as the leading nation in satellite and
orbital slot owners in the region," he said.

Djakaria is chairing the session on satellite communications.

"We are experienced in communications satellites. We have the
software, human resources and system." (icn)