KabelVision hooks up with five Net Service Providers

KabelVision hooks up with five Net Service Providers

JAKARTA (JP): KabelVision, the first TV cable and broadband
Internet network provider in Indonesia, will forge alliances with
five more Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Jakarta next month
to expand its coverage of broadband internet services.

Deputy director Srihanto Nugroho told reporters on Thursday
that the move was expected to encourage more Internet users in
the capital to switch from using the dial-up telephone connection
to the Internet to KabelVision's high speed fiber optic
connection.

Srihanto declined to name the five ISPs to be added to the
existing ISPs -- Linknet and Indosatnet -- currently allied with
KabelVision's service.

KabelVision's fiber optic connection provides individual
subscribers Internet access with a speed of 64 kilo bytes per
second (KBps) compared to a maximum of 56 KBps now available
through ordinary telephone lines. Users paying the corporate rate
can enjoy Internet speed of up to 30 MBps, according to
KabelVision.

KabelVision has enlisted 1,500 customers for its Internet
facility since it was launched five months ago.

The company hopes to bolster the number to 40,000 Internet
subscribers in 2001 when it expands its facility in Surabaya and
Bali, Srihanto said.

"Demand for broadband Internet will increase significantly
because more and more business is being conducted through the
Internet, requiring facilities to transmit large data volumes
quickly," he said.

Currently, some 32,000 households in Jakarta subscribe to
KabelVision's TV cable services. The company, a unit of the
widely diversified Lippo Group, is competing in this field with
satellite-based cable TV services, such as Indovision.

In broadband Internet, KabelVision will compete with
Speednet, which is offering its facility through radio wave, and
the state-owned giant PT Telkom, which will be offering its
facility through upgraded copper cable.

Srihanto said KabelVision is not deterred by the competitors,
noting that they have to spend more money than his company in
building infrastructure.

The arrival of new competitors, however, will affect prices
charged to subscribers, he said, adding that KabelVision would
still be able to offer lower rates than its competitors.

Separately, Haniana Loeis, general manager of Speednet said
the number of people in Jakarta who subscribe to the Internet
through broadband or dial-up providers has passed 200,000.

Speednet, which is launching its Internet broadband service
through radio frequency next month, aims to net 15,000
subscribers in 2001. "Our target will be 80 % corporate
subscribers, and the rest will be individual subscribers," she
said.

Speednet offers Internet access with speeds of between 64 KBps
and 10 Mbps.

Telkom's Internet broadband, offering Internet speeds of up to
8 MBps, will be available in Bali next year where a project to
upgrade telephone lines has already been completed.

The company appointed PT Alcatel Indonesia in October to
upgrade its copper wire network in Jakarta next year. (05)