Tue, 26 Apr 1994

Korea Telecom interested in RI projects

SEOUL (JP): Korea Telecom is preparing telecommunications projects in Indonesia under its plan to expand operations in other countries, particularly those in Asia and Latin America, executives of South Korea's state-owned company said.

Korea Telecom's manager of overseas cooperation, Jong-Sun Yoon, and deputy director, So Hoo-Cheol, told Indonesian reporters visiting the company's headquarters here over the weekend that the company will likely develop projects jointly with an Indonesian partner under a build-operate-and-transfer scheme within Indonesia's telecommunications infrastructure.

The executives said Korea Telecom will soon look for Indonesian projects it considers appropriate and find local partners.

Korea Telecom and Indonesia's international telecommunications company, PT Indosat, signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year for cooperation in telecommunication projects in Indonesia.

A senior expert from Indosat, D. Habimono Koesoebjono, was here last week to hold several meetings with Korea Telecom's executives and experts, but he refused to give any comments on planned cooperation between the two companies.

Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave, who was here to attend the 43rd conference of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, told The Jakarta Post that the Indonesian government will welcome Korea Telecom's participation in the country's telecommunications development.

"Telecommunications development in Korea is very fast. I think it will be good if Korea Telecom is involved in Indonesian telecommunications projects," he said after meeting with the company's president Cho Paek-Jae.

Joop said that since the mid-1970s, the company has successfully installed 21 million telephone lines throughout South Korea, with a population of about 44 million.

The Indonesian government aims at installing five million telephone lines during the sixth Five-Year Development Plan (Repelita VI period, which began early this month). The state- owned domestic telecommunications company, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), installed 2.2 million lines during Repelita V.

Telkom will construct three million telephone lines during Repelita VI and the other two million will be offered to private companies. (icn)