Mobisel investing $200m to install CDMA technology
Mobisel investing $200m to install CDMA technology
JAKARTA (JP): Cellular operator PT Mobile Selular Indonesia
(Mobisel) will invest US$200 million to replace its current
analog Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) technology with the more
advanced digital technology of Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA), the company announced on Monday.
Mobisel's president Amir Abdul Rachman said that it had signed
an agreement last week with Lucent Technologies, which will
provide the CDMA infrastructure at the frequency of 450
megahertz.
"The new technology will give customers clearer reception and
enable them to benefit from the system's added features, such as
SMS," he said in a media conference here.
He said installation of the CDMA technology would commence in
September and was expected to be completed by March 2002.
Amir added that the company would install the newest CDMA
technology, called CDMA 2000, capable of transmitting data at a
speed of 144 kilobits per second.
CDMA is one of two digital cellular technologies widely used
today, the other being the Global System for Mobile Communication
(GSM). GSM is, however, more popular among Indonesian operators,
including PT Telkomsel, PT Satelindo and PT Excelcomindo Pratama.
Other technologies based on the analog system include NMT and
the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS). AMPS is used by
Telesera, Metrosel and Komselindo.
Amir said the $200 million investment would be allocated to
conversion of the system, the replacement of handsets owned by
customers and the expansion of network coverage.
Mobisel currently maintains 135 base transceiver stations
(BTS), covering a network that extends throughout Lampung in
South Sumatra, Java and Bali.
"Next, we will expand throughout the rest of Sumatra,
Kalimantan, further east to Lombok, to eventually cover all of
Indonesia," Amir said.
As of March, Mobisel's subscribers numbered between 12,000 and
13,000, he said, adding about 70 percent of the company's
subscribers live in rural areas.
"We are targeting customers in places where conventional
phones and other digital cellular services cannot operate," Amir
said, explaining that its low frequency of 450 megahertz could
cover a wider area than the higher frequencies applied by other
operators.
Amir said that the number of users was higher than the actual
number of subscribers, thanks to services like cellular kiosks,
which are locally known as warsel -- a telecommunications kiosk
providing services via cellular phones instead of fixed-line
phones.
Mobisel provides at least 400 cellular kiosks on board various
inter-island ferries, such as on the Merak-Bakauheni route,
Mobisel vice president Rudy Martinez said.
"So from just one line, these kiosks could reap more than Rp 5
million (about $476) in revenue a month," he said.
Amir said Mobisel's conversion to CDMA was expected to
increase the number of subscribers to more than 200,000 during
the first year of operation. (tnt)