Lintasarta joins Equant to provide global network

Lintasarta joins Equant to provide global network

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's major data communications service
provider PT Aplikanusa Lintasarta and state-owned international
telecommunications company, Indosat, have joined worldwide
network provider Equant to provide reliable global communications
in the country.

Lintasarta -- jointly owned by state-owned PT Indosat and PT
Telkom -- U.S.-based Equant and Indosat signed the partnership
agreement yesterday.

Lintasarta's president Taufik Akbar said the cooperation would
expand the coverage areas of his company's service.

"We expect to increase our coverage to 40 cities in
Indonesia's 27 provinces by the end of the year," he said.

The company currently serves 1,000 corporate customers and
provides about 5,000 links in 20 major cities in the country.

They include banks, financial firms, transportation and
retail companies, he said.

The new integrated service will increase transmission speed to
two megabytes per second (frame relay), enable companies to
a single-point contact and seamless connection straight into
offices and homes internationally, he said.

"It will enable remote areas like Tembaga Pura in Irian Jaya
to access the service," he said.

Equant's President Andrew Bond-Webster said the cooperation
was aimed at Indonesian companies expanding their businesses
overseas and international companies wishing to expand their
businesses in Indonesia.

Webster said Equant had more than 34 global customers
currently establishing business links with Indonesia, and he
expected the number to triple in the next 12 months.

Equant services include managed data network services such as
frame relay, remote LAN Access, and value-added services
including message services and electronic data interchange.

The services are available in more than 225 countries and
territories.

Equant is based in Atlanta, Georgia, with regional offices in
London and Singapore. Its markets include travel and tourist
financial services, marine transportation, high technology, and
oil and petrochemical production manufacturing.

Lintasarta, founded in 1988, is the original data network
provider in Indonesia. Its services include digital data
networks, frame relay and shared automated teller machines.

The company is 28 percent owned by PT Telkom, 23 percent by
Indosat and 49 percent by pension funds of state-owned companies
and banks.

Taufik said the company expected to book between Rp 20 billion
and Rp 30 billion in net profit this year, up from Rp 18 billion
last year.

He said the company expected to generate Rp 130 billion in
revenue this year, up from Rp 60 billion last year. (das)