PT Inti supplies most of demand for telecommunications equipment

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): An increase in PT Inti's production capacity has put it in position to provide almost all of the equipment required for telecommunications expansion in the next five years.

"We have expanded our production capacity by 75 percent to 700,000 telephone lines per year, meaning that we can provide equipment for the establishment of no less than 3.5 million new lines in the coming five years," state-owned Inti's president, Arsyad Ismael, told reporters at the plant here yesterday.

The expansion has cost the company Rp 3 billion (US$1.39 million), he said.

Arsyad said the government expects to establish five million new telephone lines within the just begun Sixth Five Year Development Plan (Repelita VI) period.

During Repelita V, the state-owned domestic telecommunications firm PT Telkom laid three million telephone lines, for which Inti provided the material for 2.1 million.

Arsyad said Inti's products include small earth stations, central exchanges, terminals and telephone sets.

He said that even though Inti uses technology from Siemens AG of Germany, the company is ready to compete against other producers on the world market.

"We are negotiating with potential buyers in 20 countries," he said.

Yuniar Chaidir, Inti's finance director, said the company has sold small digital telephone exchanges to Malaysia and Jordan. (icn)