Satelindo expands network to Riau islands

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Natuna islands, Riau

Cellular phone provider PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo) has built four base-transceiver stations (BTS) in the Natuna islands, Riau, in order to widen its network.

The stations are built on Natuna's main islands of Rania, Tarempa, Matak and Sedanau.

Satelindo president director Johny Swandi Sjam told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that although Natuna was quite remote, the islands were a potential market, thus the company had decided to invest there.

One BTS requires between Rp 2 billion (US$244,000) and Rp 2.5 billion for construction.

The Natuna islands, located in the South China Sea, is two hours by air and 10 hours by ferry from the industrial island of Batam, while it takes two hours by air and 18 hours by ferry from Riau's capital of Pekanbaru.

Measuring 1,720 square kilometers and home to 85,000 people, the islands are a rich source of natural gas, and supplies gas to Singapore and Malaysia.

During a test call using the Satelindo network, Riau governor Saleh Djasit said he hoped Satelindo's investment would spur on the area's economic and social development.

Satelindo, which provides the Matrix and Mentari global system for mobile communication (GSM) services, has so far built 47 BTS in the Riau archipelago, totaling Rp 94 billion in investment value. Across the Indonesian archipelago, the cellular provider has built 2,940 BTSs.