Iwa applies art of communications

By I. Christianto

JAKARTA (JP): PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo), one of the country's three Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) telecommunications providers, has progressed rapidly since its inception four years ago.

Satelindo's rapid success cannot be separated from the ability of its president, Iwa Sewaka, to apply the "art of communications" in drafting business strategies and crafting the company's management.

Iwa, who has directed the private telecommunications firm since it was formed in January 1993, said the art of communications was the key to the company's success.

Satelindo, which celebrated its fourth anniversary on Wednesday, is planning to float shares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange in 1998; a rare action for a young firm.

Iwa said he had tried to adapt the art of communications in discussions with the company's commissioners, shareholders and staff.

"You have to converse horizontally and vertically and the conversation must be appropriate with your lower staff, counter colleagues and those of higher position," he said.

He said that "building trust" was also important in a working environment.

Iwa, born May 12, 1942, is married to Asih Bandini and has three sons and a grandson. But he still manages to work almost 20 hours a day.

Larger than most Indonesians, this softly spoken man is gentle and humorous.

"We have to create jobs through our thinking and ideas. We have to create concepts. We can't wait for them from outside," Iwa said on his work philosophy.

Before joining Satelindo, he worked for state-owned insurance firm PT Jasindo, state-owned PT Danareksa and state-owned domestic telecommunications firm PT Telkom.

"Building Satelindo from the beginning is meaningful to me, how we have increased our public service through rapidly improving technology which, one day, can become our rival."

On his ambitions and plans, Iwa, who graduated from Jakarta's University of Indonesia in 1967, said he wanted to go "back to basics". He said: "I want to work as an accountant, just like my school background."

Iwa did not give much thought to failure or have any regrets.

"By mastering the art of communications there will not be any unsolved problems."

He said he usually wanted a second opinion before making an important decision. "I don't want to make any subjective judgments. I have to make a decision with a basis, not a baseless decision."

With just 50 employees when it began in 1993, Satelindo now has now about 750 staff, putting it among the leading telecommunications players in Asia.

Satelindo secured loan guarantees last year worth more than $150 million from international banks for the construction and launch of its telecommunications satellites.

Iwa said the loan guarantees would help Satelindo's plan to list some of its shares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange by 1998.

But he refused to disclose details on the planned float or the company's financial structure.

Satelindo last year reported that it expected Rp 584.5 billion in revenue in 1996 from its satellite, international telephone and digital cellular services.

The company estimated a Rp 55 billion net profit for 1996: Rp 30.35 billion was expected from cellular telephone services, Rp 20.2 billion from satellite transponder leasing and Rp 4.45 billion from international telecommunications services.

The government has licensed Satelindo to run satellite telecommunications services. It owns and operates Palapa C-1 and C-2 satellites.

The company, which was licensed in 1994 to use a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) system, aims to get 850,000 GSM subscribers by 1998.

PT Telkomsel and PT Excelcomindo also offer GSM cellular systems in Indonesia.

The company gained $586 million in 1995 when DeTeMobil of Germany acquired 25 percent of its shares. Satelindo is now 22.5 percent owned by state-owned domestic telecommunications company PT Telkom, 7.5 percent by state-owned international telecommunications company PT Indosat, 25 percent by DeTeMobil and 45 percent by PT Bimagraha Telekomindo.

Bimagraha is majority owned by the Artha Graha Group, which is controlled by businessman Tomy Winata and Bambang Trihatmodjo's Bimantara Group.

Iwa said that Satelindo's assets were estimated at Rp 2.7 trillion this year and would be worth Rp 3.6 trillion by 1998 when the company floats.

Iwa said that Satelindo's was planning to get involved in several overseas telecommunications projects.

He said that he would court the projects offering the biggest benefits to Satelindo. "It was Satelindo's long-term plan to participate in several international telecommunication projects. "We may set up joint ventures, joint operations or other forms of partnership."

Satelindo believes that it can still lead the digital cellular race, backed by qualified human resources and a strong financial structure.

When the company launched its customer care center on Jl. Sudirman, Iwa said he wanted Satelindo to be a customer driven firm especially for GSM services.

Satelindo plans to invest Rp 900 billion this year mainly to expand its GSM mobile cellular and satellite services.

Iwa said that Satelindo would spend Rp 700 billion of this expanding its cellular service.

"We will focus on the GSM service because we have already launched two satellites to support the company's satellite transponder leasing service," he said.

Satelindo will offer GSM services in the country's 27 provinces from next March. The company's 200,000 subscribers should grow to about 500,000 by the end of this year.

The company plans to install at least 1,000 radio base stations across the country by the end of 1997.

Satelindo has signed roaming agreements with 28 GSM operators in 19 foreign countries, allowing its subscribers to use their cellular phones when visiting these nations.

The company's GSM service made Rp 360 billion in revenue last year, representing 60 percent of its total revenue. Satelindo expects to double its revenue from GSM this year.