Lucrative packages available for CDMA users

Lucrative packages available for CDMA users

Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology has
started to gain ground in the country's telecommunication market
with more and more people switching to the relatively new
technology.

The number of subscribers of the CDMA-fixed wireless services
has now reached 1.8 million. Although the CDMA market is still
dominated by Telkom's Flexi service, the number of subscribers of
other CDMA operators has also continued to show a significant
increase in the past several months, apparently due to their
aggressive sales campaigns.

"More efforts have to be made to further promote the advantage
of the CDMA technology to the public. With such efforts, we hope
more people will switch to the new technology," said Nadia Mars,
vice president of corporate communication of PT Bakrie Telecom,
one of the country's CDMA-based phone service operator.

A fixed-wireless service is a phone service that has limited
cellular mobility within a designated area, but its rates are
quite cheaper compared to the rates of GSM mobile phone
operators, or almost equivalent to the rates of the fixed
telephone service.

Aside from competitive rates, the CDMA-based phone service
also offers other benefits, such as crystal-clear voice quality.

Experts said that there is still huge room for growth in the
telecommunication sector in Indonesia where the telephone
penetration is still quite low,

At present, only about 8.5 million people have access to
fixed-line phones, while about 23 million subscribe to the
existing mobile phone services provided by GSM operators. The
number of the subscribers of the CDMA-based services which were
introduced in Indonesia less than two years ago is around 1.8
million.

New operators of the CDMA-based phone service include PT
Bakrie Telecom, with its Esia fixed-wireless access service,
Mobile-8 Telecom with its Fren service, PT Indosat with its
StarOne service and Mandara Selular Indonesia with its Neo_N
service.

Esia has launched aggressive campaigns during the past several
months to lure young subscribers.

Following its success with Gile Bener (simply crazy) package,
Esia is, for example, launching another package Ngrumpi Abis (gab
till you drop) to further win the hearts of young subscribers.

Like Gile Bener package, the latest package also provides
unlimited free local calls and Short Message Service (SMS) to
fellow Esia subscribers and even to Telkom's Flexi until the end
of this year.

Esia subscribers using particular brands of the CDMA handset
can also enjoy the package thanks to the company's sales
collaboration with several mobile phone vendors, according to PT
Bakrie Telecom's retail sales' vice president Charles Sitorus.

"The demand on Esia cards is 40 times more per day thanks to
the packages," he said.

Apart from offering packages, the operator also established
more phone service outlets in Jakarta and Bandung, West Java. The
outlets would serve as a place where the public and subscribers
could not only find various Esia products but also convey
information and complaints, said PT Bakrie Telecom's corporate
communication vice president Nadia Mars.

Bakrie Telecom started to market Esia service in September
last year, with Jakarta and Bandung, West Java, as its areas of
operation.

Currently, it has 400,000 subscribers and the number is
expected to reach 3 million in the next five years, Nadia said.

Like Bakrie Telecom, Mobile-8 Telecom, the provider of Fren
fixed-wireless access service, has also launched joint sales
campaigns with several handset vendors and financial
institutions.

The joint sales campaign which often offers a discount of up
to 60 percent when purchasing a CDMA set of certain brands, is
quite helpful in attracting new customers.

Such packages are quite effective in attracting subscribers,
who are generally still reluctant to take the advantage of the
CDMA technology due to the high price of its handsets, according
to Mobile-8 Telecom's public relation manager Reita Sitanala.

Mobile-8 Telecom's packages, like Fren Smart Buy, Fren Jumbo
Pack and FrenSip have been also designed to help potential Fren
subscribers to buy a CDMA handset, she said.

The Smart Buy package is targeted to potential subscribers of
the post-paid Fren service. "Under this package, the would-be
subscribers interested in buying a CDMA handset are offered 60
percent discount," she added.

Fren Jumbo Pack provides a free CDMA handset for potential
Fren subscribers provided that they purchase a pre-paid Fren
card.

Mobile-8 Telecom obtained a license to run CDMA-based phone
service in 2002 and began its commercial operation last December.

Apart from conducting promotional campaign, Mobile-8 also
continues to develop base transceiver stations (BTS) and
networks.

"At present the company operates 345 BTS in Java and we plan
to build more so that the number of BTS in Java will reach 433 by
the end of this year," she added.

No less attractive are packages offered by PT Indosat,
provider of StarOne fixed-wireless access service.

One of the ongoing sales programs is called StarOne Makin
Berani (bold StarOne) package. The program was launched in
October 2004 and will run until December 2004.

The package offers a free voucher valued at Rp 50,000 and 100
free SMS as a bonus to those interested in using StarOne service.
It also provides free local calls to fellow StarOne subscribers
as long as they make a call between 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

New subscribers of StarOne post-paid service will not only be
exempted from paying a subscription fee for three months but also
from paying local calls provided that the calls made to fellow
StarOne subscribers were between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., or on
Sundays, according to Devi.

StarOne started operations in August 2003, with Jakarta and
Surabaya, East Java, as its current operational areas.

StarOne is targeted to grab between 50,000 and 100,000
subscribers this year. "The availability of CDMA handsets of
different brands at relatively affordable prices will contribute
to the increase in the number of subscribers," she said, adding
that the service quality, infrastructure and large network would
also be contributing factors.

Indosat has developed 200 BTS in Jakarta and 90 in Surabaya
for its StarOne service.

A plan is also underway by the operator to expand its
operational areas to at least 11 cities in the country in the
near future.