Internet competition getting fiercer: executive

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)