Komselindo to upgrade its networks into CDMA

JAKARTA (JP): PT Komunikasi Selular Indonesia (Komselindo), one of the country's three analog cellular telephone operators, plans to improve its service by upgrading its networks into the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology.

Komselindo's director of commerce, Zen Smith, said that his company had shortlisted three firms out of six overseas suppliers participating in the CDMA tender.

He said that the three qualified firms are Samsung of South Korea, Lucent, a subsidiary of AT&T, and Motorola of the United States.

"The winner will be announced in November," he told reporters after attending Komselindo's gathering with its agents on Thursday evening.

He refused to disclose the size of the CDMA project prepared by Komselindo, which currently runs the narrow-band Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) system with some 100,000 subscribers.

The company is 65 percent owned by PT Elektrindo Nusantara, an affiliate of the Bimantara Group, and 35 percent by the state- owned domestic telecommunications operator PT Telkom.

In addition to Komselindo, there are two other AMPS operators in Indonesia, PT Metrosel and PT Telekomindo. Three digital mobile cellular telephone operators are also applying the Global System of Mobile communications technology.

The government has approved the U.S. developed-CDMA technology, which can reduce overall network costs and provide exceptional voice quality. Last year, Komselindo ran a CDMA trial operation in Bandung, West Java, in cooperation with AT&T.

CDMA is being adopted around the world as the wireless industry standard to deliver digital cellular and personal communications services. It offers economical, clear and secure wireless communications.

Smith said that operators in South Korea and Hong Kong also use CDMA.

He said that by applying CDMA, operators will be able to increase the capacity of analog cellular networks by between six- fold and 10-fold and enable operators to improve service quality to customers.

"With CDMA, subscribers will have better transmissions and better security because the system is safe from fraud and cloning," he said.

AMPS telephones have been known to suffer from fraud and cloning problems.

Smith said that his company expects to apply CDMA in August 1997, which will also allow its customers to keep and upgrade their existing AMPS telephones. (icn)