Pramindo wins certificate

Pramindo wins certificate

JAKARTA (JP): PT Pramindo Ikat Nusantara, a joint venture
between France Telecom, the Astra Group and two other local
partners, yesterday received its inter-connection test
certificate in Medan, North Sumatra.

The certificate, delivered by Director General of Post and
Telecommunications Djakaria Purawidjaja to Pramindo's president
Mrs. Nuryana Prasetyo, was the first one awarded to any of the
five private consortia holding 15-year joint operation contracts
with the state-owned domestic telecommunications operator PT
Telkom.

Under the contract signed last year, Pramindo, which is 59
percent owned by Astratel Nusantara, a subsidiary of the
publicly-listed Astra International, will manage the 700,000
fixed telephone lines already installed by Telkom and will
install around 517,000 new lines within the next three years.

Telkom will receive a minimum revenue of Rp 514 billion
(approximately US$220 million) this year from Pramindo as
compensation for the operation of its existing telephone networks
in Sumatra, plus 30 percent of the profit to be made from the
operation of the telecommunications networks.

Pramindo, using DRA 1900 equipment supplied by Ericsson AB of
Sweden, demonstrated yesterday its telephone facilities in
Binjai, a small town near Medan. (icn)