ICO Global links up with GSM operators

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)