Govt approves Bakrie's rural phone system

PETALUMA, California (JP): The Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications has officially approved a rural telecommunications system developed by PT Bakrie Communications Corporation (BCC) and the state-owned PT Telkom.

The certificate of the approval was presented by Director General of Post and Telecommunications Djakaria Purawidjaja to chairman of the Bakrie Group, Aburizal Bakrie, in a ceremony here Thursday.

The Advanced Rural Telephone System (ARTS) was developed by BCC and Telkom five years ago in the industrial park of Silicon Valley, Petaluma, California in the United States, with a total investment of US$40 million, Ical said.

The copyright of ARTS is 74 percent owned by Bakrie and 26 percent by Telkom.

Ical said ARTS was developed in the U.S. by Nusantara Communications Inc., one of Bakrie's subsidiaries.

He said that BCC's affiliated firm, PT Multi Kontrol Nusantara, based in Bandung, West Java, would soon start operations to produce ARTS.

"We will establish several overseas joint venture companies to produce ARTS in China and South America. Market positioning for the system includes 23 nations like Argentina, Thailand, Poland, Oman, Brazil, China, India and Nigeria," he said.

Uzbekistan ordered 65,000 line ARTS, he added.

He said Nusantara Communications would invest $10 million and $20 million in 1997 and 1998, respectively, to further develop ARTS which applies a radio system telecommunications network and system in rural areas.

Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave, who witnessed the award ceremony, said that Indonesia needed to promote its own creations and brands like ARTS.

"However, you have to go internationally with an Indonesian touch and identification. This is to avoid that ARTS is a American," he said.

Ical said he had selected Petaluma as Nusantara Communications's base as "there's a lot of brains here in the Silicon Valley". (icn)