Satelindo's GSM enters Bandung

Satelindo's GSM enters Bandung

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia
(Satelindo), a private telecommunications operator, started its
expansion of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)
operations yesterday.

The company's cellular director, Saleh Gunawan, said that his
company has spent Rp 30 billion (US$13.2 million) for the
expansion project here, where some 10,000 people are expected to
subscribe.

Satelindo is 45 percent owned by PT Bima Graha, a subsidiary
of the Bimantara Group, 25 percent by DeTeMobil 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.

The company, which also operates satellites of the Palapa-C
generation and international calls, has already listed some
40,000 GSM subscribers in Greater Jakarta, where it started the
business late last year.

Saleh said yesterday that Satelindo also operates radio
network planning tools, which were supplied by Alcatel of France
and DeTeMobil.

"The equipment is very helpful, to find the best locations for
base transceiver stations, so the quality of voice will be
superior," he said.

He said that the equipment will cover large areas and can
avoid blank spots because the tools use satellite-based data.

Such equipment has also been operated by PT Telkomsel, the
state-owned GSM operator, which started its business in Sumatra.

In the first phase, the company has installed six base
transceiver stations out of the 12 planned. (pet/icn)