INDOSATnet targets 70,000 clients in 2000

INDOSATnet targets 70,000 clients in 2000

JAKARTA (JP): INDOSATnet, an Internet service provider (ISP)
of state-owned telecommunications company PT Indosat, estimated
on Tuesday robust growth in new client numbers in 2000 in line
with the increase in Internet users in the country.

Business manager of Indosat's Internet division Zuraida
Boerhanuddin said on Tuesday that the estimated sharp increase in
Internet users was expected to nearly double its client rolls to
70,000 from about 40,000 at present.

"We're confident of our target of 70,000 clients, because the
yearly growth rate of Internet users in Indonesia and the world
reaches 100 percent," Zuraida said in a statement.

In addition to individual clients, INDOSATnet also serves
corporate clients through lease-lines, which offers more speed.

It also intends to expand services to 21 cities from its
present 12 major cities including Jakarta, Bandung, Medan,
Yogyakarta, Denpasar, Surabaya and Batam.

The company, which was launched in April 1996, is the largest
ISP in Indonesia.

When the economic crisis deepened in early 1998, the firm
gained many new customers because Internet providers were unable
to serve clients due to increasing operation costs based in U.S.
dollars.

INDOSATnet has developed a website under www.i-2.co.id. called
Indonesia-Interactive (i-2).

The website has so far recorded 9 million visitors per month
and INDOSATnet marketing manager Ilham L. Poetranto said he
targeted the figure to also double in 2000.

I-2 has become Indonesia's Internet portal, similar to Yahoo,
AltaVista and Excite, which offers a one-stop site for Internet
surfers to find information, play games or do online shopping.

Features at I-2 include news, stock information from the
Jakarta Stock Exchange and live radio broadcasts.

Ilham predicted Indonesia would record growing demand for
Internet services.

He said online stores would mushroom and small size Internet
companies would increase, relying more on service quality of
website contents rather than Internet access.

INDOSATnet also offers various Internet-related services such
as web hosting, web advertising and I-Solution, which optimizes
the use of information technology in companies. (03)