Mon, 17 Jan 2011

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Communication and Information Ministry will demand a written commitment from Research In Motion (RIM), the service provider for Blackberry in a meeting scheduled for January 17.

“There must be a legal product, in the form of a letter or something else,” said the Ministry spokesperson, Gatot Dewa Broto, yesterday.

He said that a written commitment was conveyed by RIM when they built a Blackberry service center in Sunter, North Jakarta, in 2009.

RIM Southeast Asia director Gregory Wade confirmed that RIM will meet the government next Monday to explain the Canadian company’s commitment to comply to Indonesian rules.

RIM also promised to follow all Indonesian regulations, including tax or non-tax state revenue, not just the pornography problem. “RIM is really concerned about taxation,” said Gregory.

Previously, the government focused on Blackberry’s tax problem. The Communication and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring, in his twitter account, stated that RIM had not paid its corporate taxes.

“Please note, RIM does not pay any taxes to Indonesia, does not build any infrastructure in Indonesia. All networks belongs to six Indonesian operators,” said Tifatul.

Gregory said that RIM always follows regulations in all countries where they operate. Several of Indonesia’s demands have been met, such as establishing PT Research In Motion Indonesia, using local workforce and cooperating with Indonesian developers to develop applications.

EFRI RITONGA | BURHAN SOLIHIN