Internet industry calls on the govt to liberalize PWS

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.