Grumbles prevail on telecoms services
By I. Christianto
JAKARTA (JP): The five-minute blackout at 1:52 p.m. in the Senayan area yesterday played havoc with broadcasters who had already compiled a long list of complaints about the facilities during the SEA Games.
The effect of yesterday's power cut, the first since the Games opened on Oct. 11, was exacerbated by the back-up power generator at the TVRI complex not kicking in. It had been set to come on 0.3 seconds after any blackout.
A senior executive of a foreign broadcasting station, who asked to remain anonymous, said that if the scale of the services ranged between one and 10, Chiang Mai had been 10 and Jakarta was only one.
"It's very poor. I think it's because there are three different operators working at the event; PT Indosat, PT Telkom and PT Satelindo. In Chiangmai, the host of the 18th SEA Games two years ago, there was just one coordinating body, making everything simpler."
He said that the commentary lines were frequently unclear and that there was also interference.
"The quality of the commentary lines is very low. This usually happens from a venue to the International Broadcasting Center."
The natural sound quality during most live transmissions was also inadequate, he said, with frequent unexpected noises occurring.
"An official just said for some failures: 'it's beyond our control'".
An engineer from the private ANteve television station, Eddy, was also grumbling yesterday. He said that commentary lines often suddenly cut out during live transmissions.
The telecommunications services during the 19th SEA Games, are arranged by Telkom for the domestic networks and Satelindo and Indosat for the overseas centers.
Video transmission tariffs vary enormously, depending on the duration, kind of satellite and system.
For the Palapa-C satellite for instance, Satelindo charges US$400 for the first 10 minutes for less than 10 hours digital system usage (downlink and uplink) and $17 per minute for any additional usage. The tariffs are $300 and $15 for more than 10 hours usage.
Twenty television stations are covering the Games. They are leasing booths ranging between 40 square meters and 112 square meters, creating an atmosphere of emergency studios.
The process of live transmission begins with microwave usage from a venue to a studio, then to the television pool and then to a telecast service provider which switches the transmission to the leased satellite. The satellite arranges downlink to the home-based TV station.
Television pool executive Prayudhomo said all complaints had been and would continue to be handled with care.
Telkom executive Saleh Abdurachman said technical problems might occur if different levels were used on audio equipment.
"We have informed everyone that the allowable level ranges between minus four and plus two," he said.
State-owned Telkom has installed a variety of telecommunications networks and facilities to support the Games. Company director Dadad Kustiwa said last week that Telkom had not allocated a particular sum or targeted additional income from providing the facilities.
The telecommunications facilities consisted of broadcasting transmission services for television and radio stations, modulation networks for competition data traffic and public services like telecommunications kiosks, pay phones and facsimiles.
For overseas broadcasters there are 75 leased circuit channels (65 lines for telecast and 10 for radio), 12 facsimile lines and 31 lines for telecast. Local broadcasters can use 93 leased circuit channels, one facsimile line and 24 telecast lines.