LGEIN to provide handsets for users of Mobile-8
LGEIN to provide handsets for users of Mobile-8
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
South Korean giant LG Electronics Inc. expects to double its
sales of fixed-wireless handsets in Indonesia to 400,000 units
this year via a partnership with local service operator Mobile-8
Telecom, an executive at the company's Indonesian unit says.
PT LG Electronics Indonesia (LGEIN) president director Kee Ju-
lee told The Jakarta Post recently that Mobile-8 telecom
customers would be able to use LG handsets starting in March.
"We aim to double our handset sales from 200,000 units last
year to 400,000 units in 2005 through the partnership," Kee said.
Fixed-wireless service, which uses Code Division Multiple
Access (CDMA) technology, is a phone service with limited
cellular mobility in a designated area that was first introduced
in Indonesia two years ago.
The service offers rates almost equivalent to the rates of the
fixed telephone service, much cheaper than those of Global System
for Mobile (GSM) phone operators.
Cellular services, both using CDMA or GSM technology, are seen
as answers to the prevailing problem of limited access to fixed-
line telephone connection in the country.
At present, only about 8.5 million people -- less than 4
percent of the 220 million population -- have access to fixed-
line phones, while about 30 million people subscribe to the
existing mobile phone services provided by GSM operators alone.
Earlier, Mobile-8 Telecom announced that the company targeted
one million new subscribers this year in addition to the existing
500,000.
Although LG is still a "smaller" player in the country's
handset market today, it is one of the leading players in the
world market.
In the global market last year, LG Electronics sold up to 44
million handsets (more than 70 percent were CDMA handsets),
amounting to total sales of 8.35 trillion won (US$8.08 billion)
or up 61.1 percent from the previous year.
LG Electronics expects to maintain its No. 1 CDMA handset
sales ranking in the North American region by establishing
additional businesses with operators.
In 2005, overall handset sales are expected to grow by 40
percent to 62 million units, mostly CDMA.