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)