Indosat injects extra fund for IM3

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned telecommunications company PT Indosat said on Thursday that it would inject an additional Rp 1.5 trillion (US$143.5 million) for the development and expansion of its cellular service, Indosat Multi Media Mobile (IM3).

Indosat's executive vice president for corporate development Budi Prasetyo said that the funding would be generated internally and that the plan had been approved by the shareholders during an Indosat shareholders' meeting on the same day.

He said that the company was likely to inject an additional Rp 200 billion into IM3 to support the first phase of the cellular network expansion, which it was estimated would cost approximately US$170 million.

IM3 provides services using the global system for mobile communications (GSM) at 1800 megahertz frequency, or what is commonly known as DCS-1800.

During the initial phase, the company had begun servicing Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java, Semarang in Central Java, Batam in Riau, and Bali.

The company had said earlier that the second phase of the IM3 network was set to become operational in 2002, and would cover the northern coast of Java, Medan in North Sumatra, Pekanbaru in Riau, Dumai-Tanjung Pinang in Riau province, Pontianak in West Kalimantan, Balikpapan in Central Kalimantan, Samarinda in East Kalimantan, Makassar in South Sulawesi, and Manado in North Sulawesi.

The third phase, set for 2003, would cover the southern coast of Java, and other provincial capitals.

Also during the shareholders' meeting, Indosat said that it would transfer licenses and obligations to its newly established subsidiary, PT IM3, for the day-to-day operation of the cellular service. -- JP