PTT Telecom ready to support PT Telkomsel
PTT Telecom ready to support PT Telkomsel
JAKARTA (JP): PTT Telecom, a major subsidiary of Koninklijke PTT Nederland (KPN) of the Netherlands, will support the operational system of PT Telkomsel to develop the firm into a leading mobile cellular telephone operator in Indonesia.
PTT Telecom's president for Asia, Jan B. Volbeda, said yesterday that after winning the battle for equity participation in Telkomsel last week, his company would soon deploy a 20-member team to operate the global system for mobile communications (GSM) next month.
"The high-quality team of experienced people will join Telkomsel in March for about 24 months. They will focus on the sides of operation and customer care," he said.
Telkomsel announced last week that PTT Telecom and the Setdco Group of Indonesia had won a 22.5-percent share stake in the company.
PTT Telecom, originally in the bidding for a 20-percent stake in Telkomsel, purchased 17.28 percent with US$304 million in cash and $29 million in non-cash. Setdco, which is controlled by businessman Setiawan Djody, will contribute $88 million in cash and $8.4 million in non-cash for the other 5.2-percent share offered by Telkomsel.
The Dutch company introduced in the Netherlands an analog mobile cellular telecommunications system in 1989 and started the GSM operation in 1994. Total mobile cellular telephone subscribers in the Netherlands currently exceed 520,000, with GSM making up half of the figure.
PTT Telecom has established several joint ventures and subsidiaries in many countries including Unisource, an alliance with Telia of Sweden, Swiss PTT and Telefonica of Spain. Unisource, which provides data and other value-added services for business customers in Western Europe, has also established a join venture company with AT&T of the United States, called Uniworld, to provide a full range of global data and voice services for customers in Europe.
In Indonesia, PTT Telecom also owns a 30-percent stake in PT Bakrie Electronics Company, a Bakrie Group subsidiary which controls PT Ratelindo, a radio telephone operator.
According to Volbeda, his company is currently involved in a tender to join PT Daya Mitra Malindo, one of the five private consortia awarded 15-year joint-operation contracts for domestic telecommunication services.
Daya Mitra has failed to start its telecoms project in Kalimantan on schedule as its foreign partner, Telekom Malaysia Bhd., has withdrawn. The project should have begun early last month, but Daya Mitra was given until late March to select a new foreign partner.
In addition to PTT Telecom, there are three other companies interested in joining Daya Mitra, including Cable & Wires of Britain and two Asian telecom firms.
Asking about what PTT Telecom plans to do in Telkomsel, Volbeda said: "We are offering our knowledge. What we want to do is to transfer the knowledge. We don't intend by any means to run Telkomsel which is more than capable to manage by itself."
He said that the transfer of knowledge would be conducted through various programs, including training for Telkomsel people in Indonesia or in the Netherlands. "We also plan to contribute our expertise in developing software programs and a network planning system."
"Mobile telephone is very important in Indonesia and will be more and more important in the future. Nobody can deny the growth potential of the Indonesian market with some 200 million people," he said.
He said that PTT Telecom will also assign two of its executives, one as director of operations and the other as commissioner, at Telkomsel.
In addition to president Koesmarihati Soegondo, Telkomsel has three top executives -- Rudiantara (director of commerce), Garuda Sugardo (director of engineering and operations) and Hulman Sijabat (director of Finance).
Telkomsel was previously 51 percent controlled by the state- owned domestic telecommunications operator PT Telkom and 49 percent owned by international calls operator PT Indosat.
Telkomsel, officially established in May, was capitalized at Rp 650 billion ($280 million). After performing a successful GSM pilot project on the islands of Batam and Bintan, the company launched a series of expansions in Sumatra, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, Central and West Java. It expects to enter the key market of Jakarta next month. (icn)