Telecom project in Natuna

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned domestic telecommunications company, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), will complete the development of communication networks in Natuna, Riau, early next year to support a natural gas liquefaction project there.

"Telkom will have the completed telecommunications infrastructure in January although the natural gas liquefaction project on the island will not begin until later," the company's president, Setyanto P. Santosa, told reporters here yesterday.

He said that Telkom is preparing an integrated telecommunications infrastructure comprising standard telephone, international and digital satellite networks.

"We are developing the facilities, including 1,000 telephone lines, within just five months with an investment of US$1.5 million," he said.

The state oil company, Pertamina, and its contractor, Esso Natuna Inc., an affiliate of the U.S. Exxon Corp., have finalized negotiations on the project in Natuna -- about 600 kilometers northeast of Singapore. The signing of a contract for the US$34 billion project is scheduled to take place next week. (icn)