Ratelindo gets loan

Ratelindo gets loan

JAKARTA (JP): PT Radio Telepon Indonesia (Ratelindo), the only fixed-cellular telecommunications operator in Indonesia, signed an agreement yesterday on a syndicated loan of Rp 200 billion (US$90.14 million) from 11 domestic banks.

The company's finance director, Ali Jufri, told reporters after attending the signing ceremony that the loan was arranged by the state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia.

He said that the loan was provided by Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Ekspor Impor Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Tabungan Nasional, Bank Niaga, Bank DKI, Upindo Bank, Bank Ficorinvest, Bank Duta, Bank Internasional Indonesia and Jaya Bank.

"Ratelindo will use the loan to finance the first phase of its cellular digital radio telephones project in Jakarta, where we will initially establish 50,000 telephone lines," he said.

Ratelindo last year assigned Hughes Network System of the United States to construct the project, which is expected to be completed by August.

In addition to the first phase of the project, Hughes also plans to install 200,000 cellular digital radio telephone lines and 21 base transceiver stations in Jakarta and West Java in three phases.

Ratelindo is 55 percent owned by PT BEC of Bakrie Group and 45 percent by the state-owned PT Telkom. (icn)