Govt to tender 11 new cellular licenses

JAKARTA (JP): The government will tender 11 licenses Monday to operate the Personal Communication Network (PCN) which includes the Digital Cordless System (DCS-1800) and the Personal Handy- phone Service (PHS).

Five other PCN licenses have been awarded to five firms, including state-owned PT Telkom, PT Indosat and PT Inti, secretary-general of the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications, Jonathan L. Parapak, said at his office here yesterday.

"Interested parties must pay Rp 5 million (US$2,049) for a pre-qualification document to take part in the tender which is open until June 13," he said.

PCN is a digital remote telephone system that uses light, inexpensive handsets with long-life batteries to communicate via low-powered antennas. The DCS-1800 was developed from the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) originally from Europe, while PHS was developed by Japan.

He said the government would award the 11 new licenses by the end of this year so operations could start in the first quarter of 1998.

He said three of the five PCN licenses already awarded were given to Telkom and PT Cellnet Nusantara to run DCS-1800 nationwide and to PT Indoprima Mikroselindo (Primasel) to run PHS only in East Java.

"Meanwhile, Telkom, Indosat and Inti are licensed to jointly operate DCS-1800 only in the greater Jakarta area and PHS only in East Java," he said of the other two awarded licenses.

Parapak said the 11 licenses were regional.

The government divides the country into seven telecommunications regions: Sumatra (region I), Greater Jakarta (region II), West Java (III), Central Java (IV), East Java (region V), Kalimantan (VI) and the eastern islands (VII).

The 11 licenses include six regional licenses to operate DCS- 1800 in Sumatra, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Kalimantan and the eastern areas and five regional licenses to operate PHS in Sumatra, West Java, Central Java, Kalimantan and the eastern islands.

Parapak said that if selected, the companies, including Cellnet and Primasel, would be required to cooperate with Telkom to provide services in the designated areas, while Telkom was allowed to invite partners to provide the DCS-1800 nationwide.

Cellnet is a private firm owned jointly by tycoon Sudwikatmono, a foster brother of President Soeharto, and Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih, one of the President's daughters.

Primasel is owned by four parties including Indosat, Inti, PT Yamabri Komunikasindo, a company affiliated with the armed forces and Primkopparpostel cooperative.

There are seven cellular operators running three systems in Indonesia -- the Nordic Mobile Telephone system is operated by PT Mobisel, the GSM is operated by PT Satelindo, PT Telkomsel and PT Excelcomindo and the Advanced Mobile Phone System is operated by PT Metrosel, PT Telesera and PT Komselindo.

The government plans to install eight million telephone lines by the end of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan period in March 1999. This includes 6.7 million fixed-telephone lines and a network capacity for 1.3 million mobile telephones.

Parapak said the government would not cut cellular tariffs though there would be more than 20 cellular operators in Indonesia next year.

The PHS service tariff would be similar to fixed-telephone charges while DCS-1800 would be similar to GSM charges, he said. (icn)