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.