Newspaper angry at phone disruption

BOGOR (JP): Newly established Radar Bogor daily is to sue the Bogor branch of state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom for cutting a crucial telephone line to the newspaper's editorial office without warning, the daily's general manager said on Thursday.

Alfian Mudjani said PT Telkom arbitrarily cut one of the daily's telephones line on Tuesday, disrupting the transmission of news from its parent company, the Surabaya-based Jawa Pos daily.

"After we asked Telkom about the cutting of the line, one of its employees promised to repair it at 4 p.m. But it was only reconnected at 6 p.m.," Alfian said.

He reiterated that the line cutting delayed the distribution of the newspaper to subscribers.

He said PT Telkom also disappointed the daily, which was set up last month, when it applied for new telephone lines on Oct. 28.

PT Telkom promised to install the lines one day after the proposal documents were completed, he said.

"But, in reality, the telephone lines were installed two days after the documents were completed," Alfian said.

PT Telkom's Bogor branch could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

But one of the employees who asked not to be named said that the company had acted in line with the existing procedures. (24/jun)