Telecom operators ready for mobile Internet

Telecom operators ready for mobile Internet

JAKARTA (JP): Major telecommunications providers said here on
Monday that they were ready to expand into wireless internet
services this year using the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
technology.

PT Telkom's director of research and development on
information technology, Suryatin Setiawan, said Telkom was
currently finalizing the traffic system of its new mobile
internet service.

"We hope to complete the process in the next couple of months
so that we can launch the system in October. We are going to
enter the wireless business in order to maintain good growth," he
told journalists on the sidelines of a WAP seminar held by
Ericsson.

WAP is a new global, open standard for handheld devices that
will allow users to access on-line services without having to
plug into a laptop computer.

WAP was initially introduced and developed in late 1990s by
mobile telecoms system companies, including Nokia, Ericsson and
Motorola, with the intention to open mass-market wireless
Internet service.

Suryatin said many companies are expected to get involved in
WAP development in order to participate in the predicted boom in
the mobile Internet market in Indonesia.

He said the number of mobile internet users here was expected
to reach around 2.6 million, or about 20 percent of the total
mobile phone users projected in 2004.

To be able to launch a full mobile internet service, Telkom,
whose core business is fixed line network, should consider
acquiring one of the existing mobile phone network operators in
order to obtain the gateway infrastructure, he said.

"Telkom can build and operate its own wireless network without
having to cooperate with GSM operators, but we will need to
obtain a new license for that," he said.

He said the board of directors would immediately decide
whether or not Telkom should acquire an existing GSM operator, in
which Telkom already owns an interest.

The three existing GSM operators Telkomsel, Satelindo and
Excelcomindo have been preparing themselves with studies on
developing WAP technology in order to embark on mobile Internet
service.

Excelcomindo's general manager for pre-paid service, A.
Putranto, said the company would launch a pilot project on WAP
systems in the middle of the year before proceeding with the
commercial operation of its wireless Internet service later this
year.

"Ideally mobile internet service should be provided by both
post paid and pre-paid customers. However, due to technical
systems, including billing, it will be much easier for us to
offer the service to the post paid customers," he said.

Telkomsel's general manager for marketing, Erik Meijer, said
the company planned to launch its mobile Internet service using
the WAP system this year.

"Our service will allow subscribers to access various
information, including traffic updates, e-commerce and
information on weather, financial news or travel information from
available internet sites through their mobile phones," he said.

Meijer said the company sees a great opportunity in WAP
service, including higher airtime revenues, new market and
partners.

He said network operators need to cooperate with content
providers and vendors of infrastructures in order to be able to
establish a complete service at a more reasonable cost.

Among content providers with immediate plan to offer WAP
service is internet portal Detikcom, which is currently
developing a service to enable access of its news content by
mobile phone users, according to president of Detikcom's owner
Agrakom, Abdul Rahman.

"We intend to become one of the first WAP content providers in
Indonesia. The prototype of the Wap service we are currently
developing is expected to be available by April," he said. (cst)