Only 501 districts in eastern region have phone lines

Only 501 districts in eastern region have phone lines

By Christiani S Tumelap

MAROS, South Sulawesi (JP): For many people living in remote
areas, such as on mountain slopes and small islands, having a
telephone installed is a dream come true.

Only about 50 percent, or about 501 of the 928 districts in
the eastern provinces of Indonesia enjoy telecommunications
facilities, according to data from PT Bukaka Singtel
International (BSI), a partner of state telecommunications
company PT Telkom responsible for telecommunications services in
the eastern part of Indonesia.

Telephone lines have yet to be installed in many of the
remaining 427 districts due to various factors, most notably
geographic difficulties and insignificant demand, said BSI vice
president Bugi Sjahrazad.

In order to overcome the geographical and technical problems
in installing telephone facilities in remote and geographically
difficult to access areas, BSI has introduced the satellite-based
very small aperture terminal telecommunications system, he said.

"Satellite-based telephones serve better in remote areas than
fixed telephone lines. It is also easier to install as it is
transportable," he told journalists during a recent media visit
to a BSI workstation in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi.

BSI is one of Telkom's five partners in its joint operation
scheme (KSO) appointed to finance, build and operate telephone
services in Telkom's five regional divisions for the period of 15
years.

BSI is responsible for the eastern parts of Indonesia, while
the other four partners; PT Pramindo Ikat Nusantara, PT Ariawest
International, PT Mitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia (MGTI)
and PT Cable & Wireless Mitratel, are responsible for Sumatra,
West Java, Central Java and Kalimantan respectively.

Under the scheme, the five partners are required to pay Telkom
a three-monthly fixed amount known as minimum Telkom revenue
(MTR) and distributable Telkom revenue (DTR) based on their
revenue.

Initial agreements required KSO partners to install a total of
two million new access line units (ALU) across their work areas
during a three-year construction period from 1996 to 1999.

The government revised the target to 1.2 million ALU in
September 1998 due to the economic crisis.

KSO partners said they exceeded the installation target with
approximately 1.37 million ALU installed across the five regions
as of March 31. BSI, which uses ViSAT service as its trade mark,
has so far installed 251,300 lines.

Bugi said BSI built its first ViSAT-based telephone service
during the 1997 general election. This was mostly in South
Sulawesi to help authorities in remote areas communicate with
provincial governments regarding the elections.

"The ViSAT-based telephone services are operated by local
people in the form of telecommunications kiosks. The operator is
required to pay BSI, on behalf of Telkom, 85 percent of their
revenue," he said.

He said the ViSAT-based telephone services had received a warm
welcomed by locals owing to its charges being lower than those
charged by telecommunications kiosks using regular fixed
telephone lines.

BSI presently operates 179 ViSAT-based kiosks across its work
areas, which comprised 10 provinces such as Sulawesi, Bali, Nusa
Tenggara, East Timor, Maluku and Irian Jaya.

Most of the kiosks are located in Irian Jaya, which has 33,
followed by South Sulawesi with 29, Maluku 22, North Sulawesi 20,
Central Sulawesi 16. The remainders are in Bali, North Nusa
Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, Southeast Sulawesi and East Timor.

Bugi said BSI would install at least 21 more ViSAT-based
telecommunications kiosks by the end of the year.

He said the amount needed to build one ViSAT-based
telecommunications kiosk was much more than installing one fixed
telephone line.

"It takes US$8,000 to build one ViSAT line, compare to $1,000
for one fixed telephone line," he said. "But it's worthwhile
because we have to keep people even in remote areas connected to
others in different areas."

He said many people in remote areas expressed gratitude for
being able to enjoy telecommunications facilities.

"Some of the areas have never had telephone services," he
added.

Despite the fact that about half of the regions had yet to
experience telecommunications technology, head of Telkom Division
VII Eastern Indonesia Koesprawoto was upbeat about the increased
demand for new telephone lines, especially fixed telephone lines.

He said the demand for new telephone lines in the areas had
kept growing amid the economic crisis, which has rocked the
country since mid-1997.

He said the average number of lines canceled by subscribers
during the past years was fewer than the number of lines sold.

"The number of telephone lines canceled averages 1,000 per
month per Telkom regional office, compared to 5,333 lines sold by
each of the offices per month," he said.

"The crisis has not prompted business subscribers in most of
the eastern region provinces to cancel their subscriptions since
their business sectors, such as mining, oil and agriculture, have
not been really affected by the crisis. The demand has never
subsided," he added.

For example, Irian Jaya, where some big foreign and local
enterprises run fish freezing and fish canning factories and
mining, was scheduled to have some 2,000 new telephone lines
installed in the next couple of months, he said.

Telkom data reveals the demand for the number of new telephone
lines in the eastern regions of Indonesia increased from 362,911
lines in 1996 to 423,921 lines in 1997 and rose again to 478,609
lines in 1998. None of the 21 Telkom regional offices have
experienced a decline in demand.

Koesprawoto predicted the demand for new telephone lines
across the 10 provinces for the next five years would amount to
at least 940,000 lines.

He said Telkom's Division VII as of March 31 collected
approximately Rp 95.2 billion in revenue and projected to book
about Rp 99 billion at the end of 1999 fiscal year.