Report on cellular tender delay denied

JAKARTA (JP): The government denied yesterday it had delayed the open tender of the Personal Communication Network (PCN), the next generation of digital wireless telephone systems.

The Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications told The Jakarta Post the government had never officially stated the tender schedule.

"Therefore, there has been no delay of the tender for the cellular project," the statement said.

A telecommunications analyst told the Post last week the government originally planned to announce the tender in December, after delays in July last year.

According to the statement, the government recently completed feasibility studies of the PCN and Personal Communications System (PCS) in Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java.

"The evaluation was completed at the end of December, and was a technical and operational success. The government will soon announce the implementation of PCS/PCN to the public via a tender process," the statement said.

The government planned to adopt one or more cellular mobile telecommunications systems, in addition to the three existing systems run by seven operators. The three current systems are the global system for mobile communications, the advanced mobile phone service and the Nordic mobile telephone.

The next generation of digital wireless telephone PCN systems include the PCS-1900 and digital cordless system (DCS-1800) from Europe, the digitally enhanced cordless telephone, the personal handy-phone service developed in Japan, and code division multiple access technology from the United States. (icn)