NTT to take stake in RI

NTT to take stake in RI

TOKYO (Reuter): Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) said
yesterday it would take a 15 percent stake for US$50 million in a
new Indonesian joint venture to install and operate telephone
lines.

The venture will be set up by NTT, Australia's Telstra and
state-controlled international telephone company PT Indonesian
Satellite, the Japanese telecommunications giant said.

Several other Indonesian companies will join the venture, NTT
said without elaborating.

The venture will be capitalized at $350 million and be
established this September or October. It will install 400,000
telephone lines in central Java over three years, and operate and
maintain the lines.

The project is part of the Indonesian government's plan to
install five million telephone lines in the country over the five
years through March 1999, NTT said.