Mosques consider entering telecom kiosk business

Mosques consider entering telecom kiosk business

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Council of Mosques is looking
into the possibility opening telecommunication centers in the
grounds of some of the 650,000 mosques spread across the country.

Council head Sutarmadi said that apart from the spiritual,
social and intellectual side of mosques that was already in
evidence, Muslims should look at how mosques could also be
utilized to help better the welfare of Muslims.

He pointed that in many large mosques in Jakarta, such as
Istiqlal, Al-Azhar and Sunda Kelapa, temporary peddlers and
vendors were already operating.

Sutarmadi said the council, in cooperation with the
communication ministry, was examining the proposed selling of
telecommunication services at certain mosques.

Telecommunication centers, commonly referred to by the term
wartel, are found in many areas. They provide telephone,
facsimile and sometimes Internet access.

The economic potential is certainly there, with surveys
indicating that there will be some 2 million Internet users in
the country by the end of the year.

With 650,000 mosques across the country, it is estimated that
if each district or subdistrict has five mosques housing
telecommunication centers there would be about 1,500 mosques with
the facilities. (10)