Satelindo to offer telephone franchises

Satelindo to offer telephone franchises

JAKARTA (JP): PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo) plans to
offer franchises of its services later this year to target more
customers, especially subscribers to its global mobile telephone
(GSM) system.

Satelindo's commerce director, Adi Rahman Adiwoso, said here
over the weekend that the introduction of the franchising system
was driven by the prospect of future competition in the field of
GSM telephones, which are becoming increasingly popular in the
country.

"This is to anticipate competition from PT Telkomsel, which is
currently operating GSM telephones on Batam and Bintan islands in
Riau," Adi Rahman said after opening the company's third outlet
in Golden Plaza, South Jakarta, on Saturday.

Telkomsel, which is 51 percent owned by the state-owned
domestic telecommunications company PT Telkom and 49 percent by
the state-run international telecommunication firm PT Indosat,
plans to start its national operation of GSM telephones later
this year, after it has prepared a number of international
roaming features.

Satelindo, 45 percent owned by PT Bima Graha Telekomindo, a
subsidiary of the well-diversified Bimantara Group, 25 percent by
DeteMobil, a subsidiary of Germany's Deutsche Telekom, 22.5
percent by Telkom and 7.5 percent by Indosat, is also conducting
a number of international roaming features.

Adi said that his company will offer its franchising system
sometime in September or October, adding that any party,
including dealers and distributors of GSM handsets, may apply to
become Satelindo franchise holders.

He also noted that Satelindo will not limit the number of
brands of GSM handsets. "As long as the government has approved
the use of the GSM handsets, we can directly offer them to the
public."

Currently Satelindo offers six brands of GSM handsets, namely
Ericsson, Philips, Alcatel, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens.

Prices

Adi noted that his company will no longer fix the prices of
GSM handsets. "Let the market decide. The cheaper the better.
It's all right if some agents and distributors cut the prices of
their products. If the prices of GSM handsets become cheaper and
cheaper, more people will try to buy them. And thus we can tap
more customers."

He said that the number of Satelindo's GSM telephone
subscribers in the Greater Jakarta area increased to some 23,000
as of last month, from a mere 10,000 at the end of last year.

Satelindo started offering its GSM telephones last September.

Satelindo is currently the only GSM telephone operator in the
Greater Jakarta. Adi disclosed that the company will expand its
operation to Bandung, West Java, and Surabaya, East Java, by
July.

"We are already conducting technical operations among limited
customers in both cities. We hope that we can start our
commercial operation by July," Adi said.

When asked to describe its franchise system, Adi said his
company is still studying the franchising mechanism. He added,
however, that it would be similar to Telkom's telecommunication
franchising kiosk, which also provides long-distance telephone
services.

Last September, Satelindo introduced its international
telecommunication services by applying its 008 code for
international direct calls, making it the only competitor to
Indosat's international telecommunications services.

In addition to its international telecommunication services
and GSM telephones, Satelindo also operates Palapa-C satellites.
(rid)