RI government to pick one more GSM operator
JAKARTA (JP): The government will hold an open bid to choose a qualified company to operate cellular telecommunications using the latest technology, called the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), an executive says.
"Only three companies will be allowed to run GSM telecommunications, with PT Telkom and PT Satelindo slated to be the first two operators in the country," the development director of the state-owned domestic telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), Koesmarihati Soegondo, told reporters yesterday.
She said that because of the strict licensing for frequency and roaming utilization in GSM, three operators are adequate for the country.
Koesmarihati refused to elaborate on when the tender will be launched.
Telkom recently built a pilot project of GSM on Batam and Bintan islands in Riau which is now operational. Marketing for the lines of the project began early this month without any publication.
The chief of Telkom's office in Batam, Totok Subiyanto, said Wednesday that some 6,000 of GSM's lines have been sold so far.
"We expect to market some 2,000 lines per year," Totok said.
Telkom, following the success of the pilot project, plans to market at least 600,000 digital cellular telephone lines within the next six years.
Price
Totok said that prices for the GSM service in Batam are very competitive. A hand-held GSM telephone, for example, costs about Rp 2 million (US$926), as compared to S$2,400 ($1,548) in Singapore.
He said installation fees are set at Rp 300,000 ($138), monthly charges at Rp 65,000 and operational charges at Rp 400 per minute and Rp 275 per call.
Totok said the price of a hand-held telephone outside Batam, which is an export processing zone, is more expensive because of an import duty of 60 percent.
Telkom's Rp 12 billion GSM pilot project is being developed with assistance from Siemens AG of Germany and Ericsson of Sweden, while Satelindo, which will run a similar project in the greater Jakarta area, is assisted by the France-based Alcatel.
The trial operation of Satelindo's project will likely begin in September with 20,000 lines. The company expects to sell some 50,000 lines by the end of this year.
Satelindo, operating in the satellite and cellular telephone business, is 30 percent owned by Telkom, 10 percent by the state- owned international telecommunications company PT Indosat and 60 percent by PT Bima Graha, an affiliate of PT Bimantara Citra.
Satelindo will offer a card, called SIM, for its GSM service at a cost of Rp 1.5 million.
GSM, which is derived from Europe, is one of the three leaders in digital cellular mobile telephone systems. The other two are the American Digital Cellular (ADC) of the United States and Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) of Japan. (icn)