Govt to speed up fixed line development
Govt to speed up fixed line development
JAKARTA (JP): The government will accelerate the development
of telecommunications networks to reach a ratio of 20 fixed
telephone lines for every 100 people by the year 2020.
"If we fail to reach the figure, Indonesia will be classified
as an underdeveloped nation," Director General of Post and
Telecommunications Djakaria Purawidjaja told reporters here
yesterday.
Currently, there are five million telephone lines in Indonesia
for a population of almost 200 million. The number of mobile
cellular telephone subscribers is estimated at 300,000. In
Jakarta alone, the fixed telephone line density now stands at 11
per 100.
"In the future, both fixed and cellular telephones will be
mutually important," Djakaria said.
Indonesia is currently developing telecommunications networks
and infrastructures -- including fiber optics, submarine cables,
terrestrial gateways and satellites -- for both fixed
telecommunications lines and cellular services.
"We will learn from what is happening in Japan now," Djakaria
said. "The telephone line density in that country is 40 per 100
people."
He said that the total population in Indonesia in 2020 is
predicted to reach 250 million. "The number of fixed telephone
lines in that year should reach at least 20 percent of the total
population, while the number of mobile cellular telephone lines
should be between 10 percent and 20 percent of the country's
total number of telephone lines," he predicted.
Compared with Japan and most countries grouped in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia still
lags behind in telephone density. The figure in Indonesia is less
than 1.8 as compared to 46 in Singapore, 13 in Thailand and 6.5
in Malaysia.
The government has set a target for the establishment of at
least 6.5 million additional telephone lines during the ongoing
Sixth Five-Year Development Plan period ending in March 1999.
In its latest annual report, the state-owned domestic
telecommunications firm PT Telkom announced that its network
development plan exceeds the government's target and calls for
the nationwide construction of approximately 6.5 million lines
during five years, ending on Dec. 31, 1998. This will increase
the total number of telephone lines in Indonesia to 8.9 million.
Djakaria said that the government must work hard to reach a
ratio of four fixed telephone lines for each 100 people by 1998,
and 10 per 100 people by 2000 in order to reach the ratio of
20 per 100 people by 2020.
"We are optimistic that Telkom will be able to market any
telephone lines it has developed, because the country's income
per capita has always been growing," he said.
"Telkom has changed its former 6-3-1 strategy which means to
offer six lines to businesses, three to government offices and
one to households for each 10 fixed telephone lines the company
markets," he said. "The target is now 5-3-2." he said. (icn)