Lippo launches Internet portal
Lippo launches Internet portal
JAKARTA (JP): The Lippo Group launched on Thursday its first
Internet portal, Lippostar.com, offering news and Internet
gimmicks such as games, e-mail and message board.
"In its first stage, Lippostar provides eight channels ... but
it is expected that by the end of this year it will have at least
10 channels with around 50 subchannels," Lippo Online, the
operator of the website, says.
The eight channels are on general news, banking news, sports,
women, lifestyle, leisure, Hollywood and city news.
The company further plans to offer an English version of
Lippostar.com, which it expects to go online next year.
Lippo Online chief executive officer Hari Sulistyono expressed
confidence that Lippostar.com would become Indonesia's number one
Internet portal.
He said that Lippo's strengths compared to other dotcoms were
its support from foreign investors and the synergy from
cooperating with its sister companies.
Lippo Online is a subsidiary of Across Asia Multimedia Ltd.
(AAM), a Hong Kong-based company, in which the Lippo Group also
has a share, Hari explained.
Grouping under AAM, he said, were Lippo products like cable
television provider Kabelvision, Internet access provider Linknet
and shopping service provider Lippo-shop.
Hari said the company made extensive use of its sister
companies' existing businesses.
"We have the infrastructure, we have the Internet access
provider, we already e-commerce facilities and we already have
customers," he said.
Furthermore, he said, the Lippo community comprised 27,000
employees.
"I don't think there is a dotcom which on its very first day
has that many employees," he added.
Hari said total investment of setting up the portal reached
between Rp 40 billion (US$4.5 million) and Rp 50 billion, with
AAM owning more than 50 percent of Lippo Online.
Lippo Online, he said, expected to reach a break-even point on
its investment in less than three years.
The greater part of the company's revenue will come from
producing Internet content for other companies.
"There aren't many content producers in Indonesia, so that is
something we can sell," he went on.
Lippo Online's second largest part of company revenue, he
said, would come from advertisements on with Lippostar.com
followed by revenue from Web-hosting services.(bkm)