Govt installs BRTI members

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Minister of Communications officially installed on Friday the five members of the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body (BRTI), the country's new telecommunications sector watchdog.

Director General of Telecommunications Djamhari Sirat was installed as chairman of the body.

The other four members are Koesmarihati, Soetjipto (both telecommunications experts), Hery Nugroho (economist) and Suryadi Azis (sociologist).

The BRTI officials will have a two-year mandate and can be elected for a second time.

Hery said that the immediate focus of the BRTI was to campaign for the government's plan to raise phone charges, saying that the planned price hike was "theoretically acceptable," but the public needed to be informed about it more clearly.

The government was supposed to increase phone charges later this month, but this was canceled due to strong protest from the public. Agum said last month that there would also be no tariff hike in the early period of 2004, a move seen to help avoid social unrest during the run-up to the general elections.

The House of Representatives had previously demanded that the telecom watchdog should be operational before the government raise phone charges.

BRTI, established in July 2003, will regulate and oversee telecommunications services and networks, issue licenses, settle disputes and set a benchmark for services. Therefore the body should guarantee transparency, independence and fairness.

However, some experts have doubted the independence of BRTI. The body was said to be less independent, given the presence of Djamhari as chairman of the watchdog.