Leading U.S. computer firm Microsoft launches local internet portal
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Microsoft officially announced on Friday the launch of MSN Indonesia, a localized web site of worldwide portal msn.com, the main Internet rival of Yahoo!.
"Of the 350 million subscribers to msn.com, 306,000 are Hotmail users and 110,000 are MSN Messenger users from Indonesia, so we want to make it easier for them by providing a local MSN site, using the Indonesian language as an interface," said PT Microsoft Indonesia president Tony Chen on Friday.
Besides Hotmail and MSN Messenger, the new site, msn.co.id, will offer local news, search engines, online shopping, as well as electronic dating services -- all services offered by the original portal.
However, when The Jakarta Post tested the web site, there were still no local content, the menu was limited and the interface language was English, not Indonesian.
Shriram Adukoorie, director of MSN South Asia, admitted that partnerships with local companies in providing local news and other content were still being negotiated, so the web site was only partially finished on the launch date.
"We invite local companies to enter into partnerships with us in running this web site -- for example, partnerships with local media to provide the latest news for our web site," Shriram said.
Nevertheless, Shriram was confident that the number of local customers would grow by 100 percent over the next 12 months.
MSN Indonesia will also offer services such as MSN Mobile so that subscribers can receive e-mail messages, breaking news or chat with their friends via mobile phone.
Tony said thus far, Indonesian MSN users could not take advantage of the MSN Mobile facility on msn.com because of the absence of Indonesian network options, but it would be made available soon on the newly launched portal.
He said the company was currently negotiating with local cellular service providers for the MSN Mobile service.
Integrated online-mobile services are booming in Indonesia, and many local businesses have leapt on the bandwagon. Local portals like astaga.com and detik.com offer mobile services, most banks offer mobile banking services, and even newspapers offer mobile news services via SMS (Short Message Service).
Indonesia, with a total population of over 210 million, is a land of opportunity for businesspeople offering online services.
Although not many people have Internet access at home, but many users, including those residing in minor cities, enjoy Internet facilities through local Internet cafes, or warnet, and schools.
For eyebox
Microsoft to offer discounts to battle piracy
The eradication of software piracy after the enactment in July of Copyright Law No. 19/2002 is likely to boost PT Microsoft Indonesia's revenue by 30 percent this year, said president Tony Chen.
"We are still fighting software piracy by offering schools and universities a discount of up to 90 percent for original Microsoft software," Tony said on Friday.
However, Microsoft Indonesia has not taken any measures to prevent the local distribution of newly pirated Longhorn software. The pirated software is already being distributed in Malaysia. The software, designed to succeed Windows XP, will be launched officially in 2006.
A report from Business Software Alliance (BSA) states that Indonesia ranks third in software piracy, inflicting losses of US$79 million on software producers. The BSA report also states that 88 percent of all software sold in Indonesia are pirated.
Tony concurred that, while it was difficult to completely eliminate software piracy, he expected Indonesia's piracy rate would go down by at least 10 percent by 2006, thereby increasing the country's IT spending from the present $1 billion to about $2.4 billion.