Rajawali wins 'in-principle' GSM permit

Rajawali wins 'in-principle' GSM permit

JAKARTA (JP): A senior government official said yesterday that
a firm controlled by the Rajawali Group has won an "in-principal
permit" to participate in the Global System for Mobile (GSM)
cellular telephone business.

"The remaining permits to be given to PT Telekomindo
Primabhakti are operational permits and those which include a
transfer of frequency," Director General of Post and
Telecommunications Djakaria Purawidaja told reporters here
yesterday.

Djakaria did not say when the rest of the permits will be
issued.

Telekomindo is 54 percent controlled by PT Rajawali Wira
Bhakti, 10 percent by the Army's Kartika Eka Paksi Foundation, 10
percent by the state-owned domestic telecommunications company PT
Telkom, 20 percent by the pension fund of Telkom, two percent by
the cooperative of Telkom employees and two percent by the
little-known Tri Daya Foundation.

Rajawali Wira Bhakti is controlled by businessman Peter
Sondakh, the Gadjah Tunggal Group and the Ometraco Group,
analysts said.

Rajawali is known as a regular investing partner to the
Bimantara Citra Group, which is controlled by one of President
Soeharto's sons, and to the Sinar Mas Group.

Sondakh, who was not available for comment yesterday, gained
international attention in 1990 as a result of Rajawali's
controversial takeover of the debt-ridden cigarette maker PT
Bentoel.

Telekomindo has also been rumored by various segments of local
business circles as one of the winning consortia in the
path-breaking joint operation project aimed at managing several
areas of domestic telecommunications services.

Djakaria said yesterday that Telekomindo has secured the
participation of other partners to operate in the highly capital
intensive GSM sector.

The official, however, declined to name Telekomindo's new
partners for the GSM operation.

Bimantara

Other than Telekomindo, Indonesian companies allowed to
operate in the GSM sector to date are PT Satelindo and PT
Telkomsel.

Satelindo, currently the sole operating GSM firm, is 45
percent owned by a subsidiary of the Bimantara Citra Group, 25
percent by DeteMobil, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, 22.5
percent by Telkom and 7.5 percent by PT Indosat.

Telkomsel, which was incorporated recently, is 51 percent
owned by Telkom, while the rest is controlled by Indosat.

Telkomsel, which plans to invite a foreign partner, is
expected to begin operations in Java within the next seven
months. It currently runs GSM operations as a pilot project on
Batam and Bintan islands in Riau.

An informed source in the GSM sector said recently that the
government is processing the proposal of another private
consortium to enter the sector.

The source, who requested anonymity, said the consortium is
made up by U.S.-based Bell Atlantic and PT Rajasa Hazanah
Perkasa, which is connected to Hutama Mandala Putra, President
Soeharto's youngest son. (hdj)