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)