Mobile phone business information firms setup

Mobile phone business information firms setup

JAKARTA (JP): PT Sisindosat, a subsidiary of the state-owned
international telecommunications company PT Indosat, has formed a
joint venture with PT Mutiara Datta Caraka to provide business
information for cellular telephone subscribers.

The new venture, PT Mutiara Caraka Lintas (M'Cals), announced
its first publication yesterday, named Mobile Information
Directory (Midi), which will be distributed free to subscribers
of mobile telephones throughout the country.

Mutiara Datta's president, Mutia Yoesoef, told reporters that
her company controls a 55-percent stake in the new joint venture,
while the remaining shares are equally controlled by Sisindosat
and the employee cooperatives of Indosat and the state-owned
domestic telecommunications company, PT Telkom.

"M'Cals was established with an investment of Rp 3 billion
(US$1.38 million) and we want to break-even within three years,"
she said, adding that the venture will obtain revenue from
advertisements in its publications.

She said M'Cals will be very selective in picking
advertisements in the "White Pages", as she referred to Midi.

According to Mutia, her company has been assisted by Personal
Communications Network of Australia.

She said the venture has printed 60,000 copies of the
quarterly Midi.

Mutiara Datta, which runs various businesses including cement
plants, property, gold mining, trading and publishing, will also
provide a 24-hour telephone information service for mobile
telephone subscribers next year.(icn)