Indosat forms joint venture company in Kazakstan
Indosat forms joint venture company in Kazakstan
JAKARTA (JP): International telecommunications operator PT
Indosat has set up a joint venture company in Kazakhstan, named
Inkatel, to provide small aperture terminal (VSAT)
telecommunication services in the central Asian republic.
The company announced here yesterday the new company, with
paid-up capital of US$4.75 million, is 40 percent owned by
Indosat, 50 percent owned by the Jarykh limited company of
Kazakhstan and 10 percent by PT Prima Comexindo.
Jarykh is a Kazakhstani state-owned telecommunication company,
while Comexindo is a private firm controlled by Hasjim
Djojohadikusumo who plans to build a cotton-spinning factory in
Uzbekistan.
The Kazakhstani joint venture was formed as part of Indosat's
expansion program.
Indosat, listed on the New York and Jakarta stock exchanges,
announced its plan earlier to invest about $736.5 million between
1996 and 2000 on regional and international telecommunication
projects and on domestic telecommunication infrastructure.
Indosat has a 49 percent stake in Cambodia-based Camintel SA,
a firm incorporated in 1994 to repair and renovate Cambodia's
telephone network which was vandalized in political strife two
years ago. The Cambodian Ministry of Post and Telecommunications
owns 51 percent of the firm.
Another Indosat subsidiary, PT Indoprima Mikroselindo
(Primasel), plans to launch a Personal Handy-phone System (PHS)
in Surabaya, East Java, next January. PHS is a new mobile phone
system developed in Japan which works at 1.9 gigahertz.
Primasel, formed last August with paid-up capital of $2.12
million, is 20 percent owned by Indosat, 20 percent by the state-
owned telecommunication-equipment manufacturer PT Inti, 35
percent by PT Yamabri Komunikasindo, a company controlled by the
Foundation of Military Headquarters, and 25 percent by
Primkopparpostel, the cooperative of the Ministry of Tourism,
Post and Telecommunications.
Inti marketing director Jopie Manduapessy told The Jakarta
Post earlier this week that Primasel expected to install about
1,000 PHS lines in Surabaya.
"Despite the expansion of current cellular systems, PHS will
be more attractive because call tariffs will be very similar to
fixed-telephone charges," he said.
He was optimistic that Primasel would win a license to operate
PHS regionally or nationally, though the government has
repeatedly announced that firms running trial operations would
not automatically win the planned tenders for the licenses.
The government is expected to launch an open tender to
determine several new cellular telephone operators early next
year. A number of trial operations have been launched, such as
the DCS-1,800 system run by PT Cellnet Nusantara in Jakarta.
"Of course we are ready with the service after the long-term
preparation in cooperation with JRC of Japan," Manduapessy
said. (icn)