Satelindo lifts roaming charges

Satelindo lifts roaming charges

JAKARTA (JP): Cellular phone operator PT Satelit Palapa
Indonesia (Satelindo) said on Wednesday that its subscribers
would no longer be required to pay roaming charges when receiving
calls at home.

Vice president of Satelindo's cellular services for marketing
and product management Tien Tinh Pham said the incentive
(starting in June) would only be enjoyed by its Mentari prepaid
subscribers.

"Many of our customers turn off their cell phones when
traveling outside their home base because of the high roaming
charges. Now they don't have to," he said in a media conference.

Furthermore, Mentari subscribers have the opportunity to save
up to 62 percent when calling long distance to other Mentari and
Satelindo GSM subscribers.

"No matter where the domestic destination lies ... long
distance calls that used to cost from Rp 2,970 (about 0.3 U.S.
cents) to Rp 3,900 per minute will only cost Rp 1,499 per
minute," Pham said.

With the new rates, Satelindo hopes to attract more customers
and reach its 2001 target of 1.7 million subscribers, compared to
the 1.4 million customers it had last year, he said. (tnt)