Telcom hails SingTel's entry

Telcom hails SingTel's entry

Telkom welcomes SingTel's entry to wireless unit

State-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom said that the entry of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel) as a strategic partner in cellular company PT Telkomsel marked another step forward for Telkom in the restructuring of its wireless interests.

Telkom said in a statement on Thursday that the company would now move forward with its plan to combine Telkom's cellular services, called Telkom Mobile, with Telkomsel.

"With SingTel's technological and commercial expertise ... we believe that through our partnership Telkomsel will be better positioned to construct the most advanced wireless networks in the country," Telkom's president Mohammad Nazif said.

SingTel signed a definitive agreement on Wednesday with KPN Mobile BV to purchase KPN's 22.3 percent stake in Telkomsel for a cash consideration of US$602 million.

SingTel said that the company would pay for the sale from borrowings.

2. ILO ( 1 X 30)

Economy gets worse after terror: UN

UN secretary-general warns of economic toll after terror attacks

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned at the opening of an ILO conference on global employment prospects on Thursday that the Sept.11 terror attacks in the United States would have a "severe and multiple" impact on the livelihoods of the poor.

Quoting International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates of 24 million potential job losses by the end of next year, Annan called for jobs to be placed at the center of globalization efforts.

"Nobody can forecast with precision the economic and social consequences. But we already know that poor economies will pay the highest price. We know that millions of people will become more vulnerable to poverty than before," Annan told delegates at the ILO Global Employment Forum.