Internet competition getting fiercer: executive

JAKARTA (JP): Only five Internet service providers are likely to survive due to fierce competition of the information technology industry in Indonesia, a telecommunications executive said.

"Each Internet service provider (ISP) has to compete to provide better services, including faster accessibility for subscribers. And many of these cost more than many ISPs can afford," a manager of the state-owned PT Indosat, Yoyok Basuki, said after attending a signing ceremony here yesterday between his company and PT Dyviacom Intrabumi, a new ISP.

He said that Indosat, an ISP spends US$100,000 per month to use high-capacity fiber optic telecommunications to make outgoing and incoming connections with and from overseas Internet backbones.

Internetmania began in Indonesia about three years ago. Some 25 firms have won licenses from the government to run Internet services, but less than 20 are currently in operation. About 40,000 people are estimated to subscribe Internet services in Indonesia.

Dyviacom, whose service is called D-Net, signed an agreement with Indosat yesterday to lease a high-capacity two-megabit-per- second E1 fiber optic telecommunications link to connect directly to the Internet backbone in the United States.

Dyviacom, set up with an investment of Rp 6 billion (US$2.57 million), is boasting it is the first ISP in Southeast Asia to use E1 in serving its subscribers for fast access and data flow.

An Indosat director, Bambang Sulistyo, said that Dyviacom will lease the facility for $65,000 per month for a five-year period. (icn)