PT Komselindo prepares int'l roaming service

JAKARTA (JP): PT Komselindo, one of the country's analog cellular telecommunications operators, is preparing a new service to allow subscribers to use their handsets in foreign countries.

Komselindo's Commercial Director Zen Smith said here yesterday that his company is still finalizing negotiations with TAC of Thailand, Telstra of Australia and Mobicom of Malaysia for international roaming service agreements.

The service will allow Komselindo's subscribers to make as well as receive calls when they are abroad.

Komselindo is 65 percent owned by PT Elektrindo Nusantara, a subsidiary of the Bimantara Group, and 35 percent by the state- owned domestic telecommunications operator PT Telkom. The company operates cellular mobile telecommunications using the advanced mobile phone service (AMPS) in West Java, North Sumatra and Sulawesi.

Smith acknowledged that Komselindo, as an AMPS operator, is a bit behind the digital cellular telecommunications operators using the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology. The other AMPS operators in Indonesia include PT Telekomindo and PT Centralindo Panca Sakti.

Meanwhile, two out of the three GSM operators in Indonesia, PT Satelindo and PT Telkomsel, have already completed international roaming agreements with a number of foreign operators.

"But as an AMPS operator, Komselindo will expand together with the country's other operators since AMPS is the world's most popular system. Moreover, AMPS can be developed into a digital system called code division multiple access (CDMA)," Smith said.

In cooperation with AT&T of the United States, Komselindo is currently conducting a trial wireless network using CDMA technology in Bandung.

"The government has yet to decide whether the CDMA will be applied in Indonesia or not. The trial operation is being conducted in anticipation of the possibility of the system being used in the country," he added.

Even though Komselindo may eventually operate CDMA, it will not abandon the AMPS system in order to continue serving all of its customers.

He said that Komselindo had allocated an investment of US$40 million for its business expansion.

"New and more infrastructures are under installation. We are set to increase number of subscribers to 95,000 by April 1996," he said.

There are 13 agents cooperating with Komselindo in marketing the handsets in Indonesia. The following agents are distributors of branded handsets: Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Ericsson, Phillips, Mitsubishi, JRC, Panasonic, Audiovox, Hitachi, Oki, Cellstar and Goldstar. (icn)