Govt to build phone lines worth Rp 400b from USO

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

With about 40,000 villages nationwide still without access to telecommunication, the government is aiming to build more telephone lines in remote areas using the Rp 400 billion (US$41.91 million) universal service obligation (USO) fund.

State Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan A. Djalil said on the sidelines of the e-Indonesia Initiatives (eII) 2005 national conference on information and communications technology at the Bandung Institute of Technology earlier this week that his ministry had targeted all villages would have telecommunication access within the next 10 years.

"Assuming that telecommunication firms' gross revenue this year reaches Rp 50 trillion, we will have Rp 400 billion for the provision of the phone lines," he said.

The government launched the USO program in 2003, planning to install telephone lines in 43,000 villages using various types of technology, such as satellite, radio, cellular and Internet protocol, depending on the local geography.

The USO is a two-phase program: In phase one, running from 2003 to 2010, the government must provide each village with at least one fixed line; in phase two, it must develop more supporting facilities.

To finance those projects, the government obliged telecommunication operators to set aside 0.75 percent of their annual revenue toward the program.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- in his video-conference opening speech broadcast to 11 country members of the School of the Internet: Bangladesh, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- said, "Information technology is needed by the people. ICT (information communication technology) can also serve as a tool to curb corruption, as I can check the dividends of state enterprises or the state revenue from taxes."

"But the ICT is currently centered in urban areas. To speed up access to telecommunication in rural areas, the government has to provide the infrastructure," he added.

The President said the USO program would also be developed to provide telephone lines for all citizens.

Sofyan said the government would evaluate the use of satellite telephones in villages because they are costly.

"We are studying (the possibility of) providing cheaper communication technology, which would cost Rp 200 million per set of equipment. With more affordable prices, we could provide the public with more devices," he said.