Govt to launch quarterly review of VoIP operators

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government will review the operation of the existing five Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) operators every three months, according to an official, adding that dormant operators will risk losing their licenses.

Spokesman of the directorate general of post and telecommunications Gatot S. Dewa Broto said on Wednesday that the new policy would be effective next month after the government renewed the licenses of VoIP operators.

Their licenses will expire at the end of this month, Gatot said, adding that the Ministry of Communications was expected to renew them within one to two weeks.

The five VoIP operators include the units of the state-owned telecommunications companies PT Telkom, PT Indosat, PT Satelindo, and two private firms PT Gaharu Sejahtera and PT Atlassat Solusindo.

The government has been criticized for only allowing five companies to run the local VoIP business.

Some 12 VoIP operators whose operations have been suspended by the directorate general of post and telecommunications recently are seeking to form a joint operation with Telkom.

But Telkom said that the plan had been halted by the directorate general on the grounds that the 12 operators had yet to seek approval from the government.

Meanwhile, Dow Jones reported that Telkom had signed an agreement with Germany's Deutsche Telekom unit T-System International Carr Services to jointly provide international telecommunication services through access to each others networks.

The agreement includes cooperation in the areas of VoIP, international toll-free services, and direct bilateral interconnection.

T-System is Europe's second largest integrated system provider.

Telkom's cooperation with the Deutsche Telekom unit is expected to pave the way for the local company's efforts to enter the international call services market, analysts have said.