M-WEB Indonesia sells assets, cut jobs
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Leading Internet firm M-WEB Indonesia, a subsidiary of South Africa-based telecommunications firm Myriad International Holdings (MIH), has sold most of its assets and is cutting the number of workers as part of a massive business restructuring.
Company president David Burke told The Jakarta Post Friday that the company has sold both its corporate service and Internet service provider (ISP) business to local firm PT Indonet, while its Internet center business has been sold to local firm PT Java Invest.
The company would keep its portal business and mobile online service, but the number of workers at both divisions would be gradually reduced from 105 at present to 25 in March next year, Burke said.
After the restructuring, the Indonesian operation would be put under the supervision of MIH management in Thailand, he said.
Burke said MIH was still committed to Indonesia, while the restructuring was aimed at making its business in Indonesia "more profitable".
MIH, with subsidiaries in many countries in Africa, Europe and Asia, entered Indonesia about three years ago by establishing M- WEB Indonesia amid euphoria over Internet businesses.
In the first phase of its operation, it acquired several portal companies, including Astaga.com, Satunet.com and Kafegaul.com after beginning with its own portal MWEB.co.id. It also entered the ISP business by acquiring a local ISP named Cabinet.
As part of its aggressive expansion, it later set up Internet centers in several universities across the country and launched a corporate service division, which assists corporate clients in the development of computer networks and software, website design and programming.
Early this year, the company said it had invested US$20 million in Indonesia.
According to Burke, M-WEB's corporate service division and the ISP business had 2,000 clients and 5,000 clients respectively, when both were sold to PT Indonet. Both have a total of 110 workers, most of whom will be retained by the new owner, while the rest of the workers will be laid off in accordance with existing government regulations.
The Internet center division operated 24 giant Internet kiosks across the country with a total of 1,400 computers when it was sold to Java Invest. This division has 270 workers, most of whom will be retained by the new owner.
Burke refused to unveil the value of deals with Indonet and Java Invest.
M-WEB will continue operating its portals Astaga.com, Kafegaul.com, and Satunet.com, but it will close down MWEB.co.id, Burke said, adding that all the portals recorded a 1.6 million page views per day.
It will also keep its mobile online business, which provides services to several local cellphone operators, including Excellcomindo and IM-3.