Indosat to join sub cable project
Indosat to join sub cable project
JAKARTA (JP): PT Indosat, the state-owned international
telecommunications company listed in New York, will take part in
the third generation of an optic fiber submarine cable project
linking Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe.
An executive of the company told The Jakarta Post yesterday
that the project, called the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western
Europe 3 (SEA-ME-WE 3), will involve 16 world-class
telecommunications firms and link Italy, France, Egypt, India,
Djibouti, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Singapore,
Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The firms joining the project are Telecom Italia, France
Telecom, ARENTO of Egypt, OPT of Djibouti, VSNL of India,
ETISALAT of the United Arab Emirates, SLT of Sri Lanka, Telekom
Malaysia, CAT of Thailand, Singapore Telecom, AT&T and TOCI of
the United States, British Telecom, KDD of Japan, DBP-T of
Germany and Indosat.
A preliminary agreement was signed late last year but the
participating parties are still discussing construction details,
said the executive, who requested anonymity.
He said the project will be designed to operate up to 16 times
faster than SEA-ME-WE 2.
SEA-ME-WE 2, established at a cost of US$700 million, is the
world's longest optical fiber submarine cable system, stretching
18,190 kilometers (11,300 miles) from Southeast Asia to Western
Europe. Indosat holds a three percent stake in the project, which
is participated in by 14 operators from 13 countries.
Complaints
The executive also said that Indosat is inviting subscribers
to send letters to P.O. Box 001, Jakarta 10000, if they have any
complaints about its international direct-call services.
The company introduced the post office box on Feb. 15 but has
yet to receive a letter.
Indosat, which applies the 001 code for its international
direct call service, has only one competitor, PT Satelindo, which
applies the 008 code.
Satelindo introduced its international telecommunications
services last September but the competition between the companies
is based purely on service because the government has fixed the
rates for both of them.
Indosat, which began business 27 years ago, employs both
submarine cables and satellite systems.(icn)