PT Excelcomindo not to involve Telkom, Indosat
PT Excelcomindo not to involve Telkom, Indosat
JAKARTA (JP): Neither PT Indosat nor PT Telkom, the state- owned telecommunications operators, will be direct shareholders in PT Excelcomindo, one of the three license holders for the global system for mobile communications (GSM) cellular service.
Telkom's president, Setyanto P. Santosa, said during a break in a hearing with members of the House of Representatives yesterday that it was not true that his company had planned to take a 15-percent ownership in Excelcomindo.
"Telkom is already involved in Excelcomindo through PT Telekomindo," he said.
PT Telekomindo is owned 10 percent by Telkom and 54 percent by PT Rajawali Wira Bhakti Utama, a subsidiary of the Rajawali Group, controlled by businessman Peter Sondakh. The remaining 36 percent of Telekomindo is collectively owned by several domestic investors including foundations of the General Attorney's office and the Armed Forces.
Registered as a private firm, Telekomindo currently runs the analog cellular mobile phone service (AMPS) systems in Bali, South Sumatra and Kalimantan.
The government stipulates under Telecommunications Law No. 3/1989, that basic telecommunications services must be provided by state-owned telecommunications operators.
The involvement of private firms in the basic telecommunications service industry will be permitted only on condition that such parties cooperate with state-owned companies under a joint-operation, joint-venture or management agreement.
There are two state-owned telecommunications firms, Telkom, which runs the domestic telecommunications business, and Indosat, which runs the international telecommunications service.
In addition to Telekomindo, there are several other private operators which run basic telecommunications service including PT Telkomsel, PT Ratelindo, PT Komselindo, PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara, PT Satelindo, PT Metroselular, PT Mobile Selular and PT Lintas Arta. All of the firms are partly owned by Telkom or Indosat or both.
Excelcomindo, which plans to launch its GSM services in Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java, later this year is likely to be the first private firm to provide a basic telecommunications service without the ownership of Indosat or Telkom.
In addition to Telekomindo, other shareholders in Excelcomindo include Nynex of the United States, PT Santana Telekomindo; Mitsui of Japan; Asian Infrastructure, an Asian investment firm; and a number of local investors, including Yayasan Kartika Eka Paksi and Yayasan Tridaya.
Daya Mitra
Setyanto also said yesterday that PT Daya Mitra Malindo, one of the five private consortia awarded 15-year joint operation contracts for domestic telecommunication services, had failed to pay the first monthly installment of the annual Minimum Telkom Revenues (MTR) to his company.
MTR, scheduled to begin on Feb. 14, are the payments for the joint operation contracts from the consortia.
"Daya Mitra has made only the initial payment," he said.
He said that Daya Mitra, which should have started a telecom project in Kalimantan early last month, would consequently face a penalty if the company failed to resolve the problems by the end of March.
The penalty will probably be a requirement to pay an additional amount based on the current interest rate.
"However the delay will not disrupt the existing telecom network in Kalimantan or Telkom's revenue," he said.
Daya Mitra failed to start its project because its foreign partner, Telekom Malaysia Bhd., withdrew the project. Daya Mitra will announce its new foreign suitor, with a 25 percent ownership, on March 6. The selection is currently between PTT Telecom of the Netherlands, Cable & Wires of Britain and Dacom of South Korea.
The government selected the five consortia for the joint operation contracts to lay and operate about two million telephone lines in the country's five regions over a 15-year period. The contracts officially started last January.
Daya Mitra was originally required to install and operate 237,000 phone lines in Kalimantan by 1999 for 15 years.
The company groups ALatieF Corporation, tea producers' cooperative Kopthindo of Indonesia, Singapore-based American International Group Inc., TM Communications of Hong Kong and PT Intidaya Sistelindomitra, a private firm owned 25 percent by Telkom. (icn)