Telecommunication system for APEC almost finished

JAKARTA (JP): The head of the Jakarta Office of Telecommunications Company, John Welly, said yesterday that the installation of telecommunication facilities for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is 95 percent complete.

He told newsmen at a press conference that the company had provided around 770 telephone lines, 300 facsimile lines, 22 telex machines, 220 public telephone booths and 350 modems in the two prime venues, the Bogor Palace and the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center. The conference is scheduled to be held from Nov. 11 to 16.

John said the company will also provide an additional 64 telephones lines, 40 facsimile lines, three telex machines and 20 modems for the media center at the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center (JHCC), to be installed by Nov. 9

However, John did not elaborate on how many lines would be installed in the Bogor Palace or in JHCC. He also refused to reveal the source of funding allocated to finance the installation.

The conference will begin with ministerial meetings from Nov. 11 to 12 at JHCC, while the summit meeting is scheduled for Nov. 15 at the Bogor Palace, 60 kilometers southeast of here.

The APEC organizing committee is now preparing communication facilities to accommodate the needs of more than 2,000 journalists who will cover the activities of 18 Asia-Pacific country leaders and President Bill Clinton of the United States.

John said that the company is planning to install the telecommunication facilities in JHCC on Nov. 1.

"I hope this will be 100 percent accomplished by the third week of this month," he said.

Meanwhile, John said that the PT Telkom, a state-owned telecommunication company, has asked the Jakarta chapter to contribute Rp 1.4 trillion (US$642 million) of its revenues this year.

"As of this month the Jakarta chapter has already amassed around 99.92 percent of the total target," he said.

To serve the telecommunication needs of some areas with no private telephone lines, the company has installed 19,263 public coin phones and card phones.

John said that the company has installed 845,046 telephone lines in Jakarta and has already set up 129,975 lines, or 69.67 percent, of the targeted 186,427 lines. (mas)