PSN to build rural telecoms networks
PSN to build rural telecoms networks
JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) is to develop telecommunications networks in West Java using its satellite services in cooperation with PT Telekomunikasi Nusantara Prima (Telnus) and PT Ariawest International.
Under an agreement signed here yesterday, PSN and its partners will develop telecommunications facilities in 500 rural areas in the province.
Based on a joint-operation contract, PT Ariawest will be responsible for installing 500,000 lines in the province by March 1999. Ariawest is also required to operate them along with existing lines until 2010.
Yesterday's agreement was signed by PSN's president, Adi Rahman Adiwoso, Ariawest's vice president, Gatot Kahrmadji, Telkom's West Java regional division general manager, Adek Julianwar, and Telnus's president, Gunoto Abdul Latief.
Adiwoso said the 500 rural areas, which include about 50 percent of total villages in Telkom's West Java regional division, are part of the first phase, which is scheduled to begin in August and completed by March 1999.
"Each village will have at least one telephone line using Very Small Aperture Terminal Xpress Connection of PSN," he said.
Xpress Connection is a satellite-based wireless telecommunications facility operated by PSN.
"The rural telecommunications facilities will be public telephones or telecommunications kiosks operated by Telkom, PSN and Telnus in cooperation with Village Cooperatives Units or other local institutions under revenue sharing schemes," Adiwoso said.
Adek Julianwar said the program was part of the effort to accelerate telecommunications development in West Java while satellite technology would facilitate the development in remote areas difficult to reach with wire lines.
The program will also accelerate the Universal Service Obligation required by the government, Kahrmadji said.
PSN, which is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market in the U.S., is a joint venture between overseas and domestic firms, including Telkom, PT Elektrindo Nusantara (a Bimantara Group subsidiary), PT Primaupaya Lintaswara, Hughes Space and Communications Inc. of the U.S. and Telesat Canada.
In addition to an inclined satellite previously owned by Telkom, PSN also provides satellite-based communication services within the Asia-Pacific region using 12 transponders of the Palapa-C satellites.
Telnus is a joint venture owned by Telkom, the state-owned PT Indosat and PT Pos Indonesia, a cooperative of the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications. (icn)