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.