ICO Global links up with GSM operators

JAKARTA (JP): London-based mobile communications company ICO Global Communications announced on Tuesday the signing of separate satellite roaming agreements with local global system mobile (GSM) network operators Telkomsel and Satelindo.

The agreement will come into effect after ICO launches full commercial services, scheduled for August 2000.

Under the agreement, customers of Telkomsel and Satelindo will be able to roam in the ICO global satellite system within Indonesia and abroad, and ICO customers will be able to access Telkomsel and Satelindo's networks during their visits to Indonesia.

Roaming charges for using each of the agreement's signatories' network are still under discussion, but ICO charges its customers an average international roaming fee of US$2 per minute.

With the agreement, potentially 900,000 cellular subscribers of Telkomsel and Satelindo will have access to ICO's services worldwide.

Telkomsel's president director Mulia Tambunan said the roaming agreement to access ICO's satellite network service would benefit the 600,000 Telkomsel customers with vast national coverage.

"Due to the enormous size of the Indonesian archipelago, true national coverage is virtually impossible to achieve with land- based cellular technology," he said.

Subscribers of Telkomsel and Satelindo who wish to access ICO's network must have special satellite cellular telephones.

Several satellite cellular phones, including those produced by Samsung and Panasonic, will be available on the local market sometime in 2000 with price tags between $500 and $700.

ICO has so far secured over 25 roaming agreements worldwide.

In the Southeast Asia region alone, ICO has signed five agreements: with Indonesia's Telkomsel and Satelindo, Singapore's SingTel Mobile and M1 and Malaysia's TMtouch.

ICO's satellite services are expected to be used by international and domestic cellular users, specially those working in mining, aeronautical, maritime or living in remote areas lacking coverage from compatible cellular networks.

ICO is a public company listed on Nasdaq in New York that provides global mobile personal communications by satellite, including digital voice, data and fax services. (cst)