New cellular phone system for Jakarta

New cellular phone system for Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): PT Komselindo, a newly-established company in the cellular communications business, is currently exploring the possibility of introducing a new digital cellular system in Greater Jakarta, an executive of the firm said.

Zen Smith, commercial director of Komselindo, told The Jakarta Post that the new system, which is called digital advanced mobile phone service (D-AMPS), will improve the capacity and quality of the previous advanced mobile phone service (AMPS) system, already introduced by PT Elektrindo Nusantara.

Komselindo was set up last month as a joint venture between PT Electrindo Nusantara and state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom with an investment of about Rp 300 billion (US$136.36 million).

The new company will be in charge of handling all of the activities of the cellular phone business previously operated by Elektrindo Nusantara, which claims to have about 43,000 subscribers in the greater Jakarta area.

Smith said that the D-AMPS system has a number of advantages, including clear sound, greater capacity and a better security system.

The system has enjoyed wide popularity in the United States, where three out of five phone customers use the digital system.

Smith said that the D-AMPS system operates by modifying telephones using the AMPS, or analog, method. (25)