Satelindo customers given e-mail access from cell phones

JAKARTA (JP): Cellular service operator PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo) launched its SMS-based e-mail notification service on Monday, enabling its customers to retrieve e-mail from their handsets.

Satelindo vice resident for cellular services marketing and product management Tien Thinh Pham said that with the new service, both its post-paid Satelindo GSM customers and pre-paid Mentari customers could keep track of their e-mail without having to go on-line.

"Satelindomail can keep track of your e-mail account at any web-based e-mail service, whether it is Yahoo, Hotmail, or others," he said.

Through short message service (SMS), Satelindomail informs its customer of the e-mail sender, the subject, and the opening sentence of the message.

"It is limited to only 160 characters because that's the maximum length for an SMS message," Pham explained.

In addition to receiving e-mail notification, the service also allows customers to send e-mail from their handsets, he said, adding that the address shown on the message will be 0816xxxxxx@satelindogsm.com or 0815xxxxxx@satelindogsm.com, depending on the mobile phone number.

"The customer needs to register at our website www.satelindo.co.id to activate the service," Pham said.

Customers of Satelindo's post-paid and pre-paid services can also access services similar to wireless application protocol (WAP) on their handset, he said.

"We are aware that accessing WAP can be very expensive. Using SMS, we can provide the same information at a lower cost," Pham said.

Without any prior registration, Satelindo customers are able to request information such as movie schedules, horoscopes, foreign exchange rates and financial news, using SMS, Pham explained.

SMS costs Rp 200 (2 U.S. cents) a message if using the post- paid service, and Rp 250 a message for pre-paid customers, while incoming messages are free of charge, Pham said.

"We don't want to discriminate between our post-paid and pre- paid customers. The difference (between them) is only their method of payment, therefore they deserve the same kind of treatment," he said. (tnt)