Satelindo expands GSM in Surabaya, Bandung

Satelindo expands GSM in Surabaya, Bandung

JAKARTA (JP): PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo) is
preparing the expansion of its Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) operations in Surabaya, East Surabaya, and
in Bandung, West Java, as well as opening a roaming service with
Singapore.

Satelindo's cellular director, Saleh Gunawan, said yesterday
that his company will start installing next month some 10,000 GSM
lines each in Bandung and Surabaya with a total investment of
about Rp 90 billion (US$40 million).

"Roaming with Singapore will also start next month to allow
our customers to use Satelindo's cellular telephone handsets from
Singapore to call to Indonesia and vice versa," Saleh said after
accompanying French Ambassador Thierry de Beauce to inspect
Satelindo's office in Tomang, West Jakarta.

Satelindo is a telecommunications operator 45 percent owned by
PT Bima Graha, a subsidiary of the Bimantara Group, 25 percent by
DeTe Mobil of Germany, 22.5 percent by the state-owned domestic
telecommunications operator PT Telkom and 7.5 percent by the
state-owned international telecommunications operator PT Indosat.
Satelindo operates satellites of the Palapa-C generation,
international calls and GSM services.

Saleh said that in developing its GSM networks, Satelindo
receives supplies of equipment and technology from the France-
based telecommunications giant Alcatel.

He explained that Alcatel supplies various systems for
billing, switching, base stations, microwave transmissions and
radio network planning.

Alcatel's cellular manager in Indonesia, Nicolas Swetchine,
said that his company and Satelindo signed a US$200 million
contract in September 1993 for the development of 130,000 GSM
lines.

Commitment

According to Saleh, since the start of GSM operations at the
end of last year, Satelindo has now netted some 40,000
subscribers in greater Jakarta alone.

"We hope to increase the number of subscribers to 80,000 by
the end of 1995 as we prepare to install a total of 130,000 lines
later this year," he said, adding that Satelindo plans to install
some 350,000 lines nationwide within the next five years.

Later this year satelindo will also penetrate markets in
Central Java, including Surakarta, Semarang and Yogyakarta, as
well as in Sumatra and Kalimantan, he said.

"We plan to open soon roaming utilization services with a
number of other GSM operators in foreign countries such as Hong
Kong, Australia, France, Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia,
Switzerland, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands," he said.

"We are committed to improving services by always trying to
expand the business. Satelindo is also running a hotline service
especially for GSM subscribers with problems or complaints."

"We also plan to use the global mobile satellite system in the
future as a complementary cellular network," he said.

He said that a mobile satellite will be helpful to improve GSM
services in mountainous areas, where it is difficult to install a
radio base station.(icn)