Internet industry calls on the govt to liberalize PWS

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Internet industry is calling on the government to liberalize port wholesale (PWS) dial-up services for all Internet service provider (ISP) companies, otherwise it will suffer serious damage, following last week's 28.21 percent increase in local telephone call rates.

PWS dial-up services use the numerical prefix 0809, which is not affected by the phone rate hike, and has a rate of Rp 100 per minute, or Rp 6,600 (78 U.S. cents) per hour.

Indonesian Internet Service Provider Association (APJI) secretary-general Heru Nugroho said on Monday that he had met with state-owned PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) and had demanded that Telkom open the prefix number 0809 to all Internet companies.

"We demanded that it come up with a solution by the end of this month, and Telkom promised to find the best solution to the matter," said Heru.

According to data from the APJI, PWS services are dominated by TelkomNet Instan (a subsidiary of Telkom).

The data show that 93 percent of Internet users use dial-up services. Of this number, 48 percent use TelkomNet Instan as their ISP provider and 45 percent use other providers such as CBN, Centrin, Radnet and Indonet. The remaining 7 percent use nondial-up services, such as cable, leased lines and wireless.

Data from Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Watch shows that ISP providers that use PWS, such as TelkomNet Instan, charge customers a rate of Rp 9,900 per hour (including 10 percent tax).

ISP providers that do not use PWS, however, have to charge their customers Rp 11,500 per hour (including 10 percent tax), consisting of a connection fee of Rp 3,300 per hour, plus local call rates per hour.

The higher fees for non-PWS services result from the government's decision to allow Telkom to raise local call rates by 28.21 percent, effective April 1.

Under the new rates, local calls made between 3 p.m. and midnight will be Rp 83 per minute, or Rp 5,500 per hour (for a distance of less than 20 kilometers), and Rp 125 per minute, or Rp 8,250 per hour (for over 20 kilometers).

Indonesian Internet Kiosks Association (Awari) chairwoman Judith Monic Samantha agreed with Heru, saying that the new rates would do nothing but hurt non-PWS Internet users.

"I think it's only fair for Telkom to liberalize PWS services, otherwise non-PWS services users will be severely hurt," she said.