PT Inti, Japan firms to make cellular terminals
JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned telecommunications equipment manufacturer PT Industri Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Inti) plans to produce cellular telecommunications handsets for the Personal Handy-phone System (PHS) jointly with a number of Japanese firms.
Inti's president, Arsyad Ismael, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend that the business will be prospective because PHS will soon be adopted in Indonesia.
In cooperation with the state-owned domestic telecommunications operator, PT Telkom, Inti launched yesterday a trial operation in Semarang, Central Java. The company has installed 60 cell-sides and distributed PHS personal stations (terminals) to 120 selected people.
Arsyad said that Inti had assembled a number of PHS terminals called the Inti Telkom Advance Cordless Telecommunications System, nicknamed Intacts.
The dimensions of the PHS terminal are 115mm in height, 43mm in width and 25mm in length, while its weight is just 120 grams, including the battery.
One of the lightest cellular handsets in the world, the Ericsson GH 388, is 130mm tall, 49mm wide, 23mm in length and 170 grams in weight.
"We will also develop PHS cell-sides in cooperation with Japan Radio Company. We will consider as well any other partners," Arsyad said after attending the opening of the Exhibition of Research and Technology at the Jakarta Fairground.
He said that PHS is suitable for middle-class users as the tariff structures will be cheaper than the current mobile cellular telecommunications in operation in Indonesia.
Radius
PHS is workable at a speed of about 30 kilometers per hour. A PHS cell-side works within a radius of 60 kilometers, he said.
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave said yesterday that there are currently some 360,000 users of cellular telephones in Indonesia. The telephones use three different systems -- the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT-450) with 40,000 subscribers, the Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) with 80,000 subscribers and the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) with 240,000 subscribers.
PHS sends and receives signals via cell-sides at public telephone booths and buildings or inside train stations, shopping malls and other public places.
The installation of cell-sides is cheaper than cellular phones, making it possible to set prices at less than one-third of the prices for current mobile phones.
Meanwhile, a telecommunications analyst told the Post that Inti, which will be licensed by the government to operate the wireless telephone service, will also cooperate with Philips of the Netherlands to develop GSM handsets in Indonesia. (icn)