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)