PSN may enter RP

PSN may enter RP

MANILA (AFP): A subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is eying an alliance with Indonesian, Singaporean and U.S. firms for a US$900 million satellite-based mobile telephone system in Asia, an official said yesterday.

Ramon Cojuangco, president of the cellular phone firm Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel), said "negotiations are still going on" and that details of the partnership still had to be finalized.

Piltel is 40 percent owned by PLDT, the country's main telecommunications carrier. It is also the largest cellular phone operator in the Philippines.

Cojuangco identified the foreign companies as PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) of Indonesia, Singapore Telecom, Singapore Technology Ventures and Hughes Communication Inc. of the United States.

A feasibility study of the project is expected to be finished by next month, while the satellite is targeted to be operational by early 1998.

Cojuangco said the system would cover the region from India to China as well as the southern and southeastern parts of Asia.