ISP set to launch broadband Internet

ISP set to launch broadband Internet

JAKARTA (JP): Internet service provider PT Speed Internet
Digital (SpeedNet) plans to launch a fast broadband service in
Jakarta either in January or February.

SpeedNet general manager Haniana Loeis said broadband Internet
would enable users to access the Internet without dialing up or
waiting for a connection.

"Broadband Internet service also allows the high-speed
transmission of data, voice, as well as visual traffic," she
said.

Users will be charged a fixed monthly fee instead of being
charged on the basis of duration of connection to the Internet,
she added.

SpeedNet initially will target office buildings, hotels and
apartments, the company' general manager of sales, Budi Juniadi,
said.

The service can be made available by installing an antenna on
the roof of the building, which would then allow building owners
to offer broadband Internet-ready offices or rooms for occupants,
he said. Fiber optics would eventually replace the antennas, he
added.

Broadband allows data transmission speeds of up to 10Mbps,
more than 50 times faster than the 56Kbps of existing dial-up
services, he explained.

SpeedNet forecasts that next year it will install broadband
facilities in some 100 multistory properties and in 10 base
stations, which will offer access to small and medium-size
enterprises, schools, Internet kiosks, individuals and homes in
Jakarta.

Haniana said that by the second quarter of 2001, the company
hoped to have 15,000 individual subscribers.

SpeedNet is a subsidiary of PT Broadband Network and is backed
by two other subsidiaries, PT Texascom Hitek System and PT
Starcom Solution, which are responsible for installing and
maintaining the services.

SpeedNet has installed on a trial basis broadband
infrastructures in five buildings in Jakarta -- Kuningan Plaza,
Mulia Tower, Graha Niaga, Thamrin Tower and Kuningan Aspac. (03)