'Rate hike OK if services improve'

'Rate hike OK if services improve'

The government has allowed telephone operators PT Telekomunikasi
Indonesia (Telkom) and PT Indonesia Satellite Corporation
(Indosat) to raise local telephone rates by up to 28 percent
along with the lowering of long-distance rates. However, some
city residents The Jakarta Post talked to object to the increase,
saying services should first be improved.

Maria, 30, is a mother of two who lives on Jl. Gajah Mada,
Central Jakarta:

The rate increase enrages me because it is not accompanied by
improved services. I wouldn't mind so much if the operator
upgraded its services, but instead services get worse.

I heard that from this month, Telkom will no longer supply
printouts of calls upon request, unless we pay Rp 2,500 (about 30
US cents) per page.

I pay Rp 300,000 in monthly phone bills. I've told my family
to limit their phone use, especially long-distance calls. The
phone in the living room is for local calls only, while long-
distance calls can be made from the phone in my bedroom.

Ekawati, 28, lives with her family in Dakota, Kemayoran,
Central Jakarta, and works in Kedoya, West Jakarta:

Another phone rate increase? That's crazy. Since early this
year, we have been dealing with nothing but price hikes. It was
just recent that the government made us grope deeper into our
pockets to buy cooking gas.

Any increases will certainly be followed by price hikes of
basic commodities. That really irks me as my salary has not gone
up for a long time.

What I hate most is that the phone rate hike is not followed
by better services. I often use the 108 information service, but
to my disappointment, the person at the other end of the line
always seems reluctant to help me. Sometimes, I'm given incorrect
information.

--The Jakarta Post