Telecoms, broadcasting 'must be handled by one ministry'

JAKARTA (JP): Telecommunications and broadcasting should be administered under one ministry to avoid overlapping in licensing and regulations, a telecommunications executive said on Tuesday.

"We suggest that the two sectors be put under the jurisdiction of a single ministry called the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia," chief of the Indonesian Telecommunications Society (Mastel) Sukarno Adulrachman told a news conference on his organization's recommendations for the telecommunications bill.

The society, he added, feared two different laws covering inter-related operations would be applied if telecommunications and broadcasting remained under different ministries.

He noted the convergence of telecommunications, information and broadcasting in electronic multimedia services.

The bill on telecommunications currently before the House of Representatives is scheduled to be approved by legislators at a plenary session later this month.

Mastel earlier briefed the House on the urgent need to align stipulations for telecommunications and broadcasting to help the government make appropriate policies and regulations.

Sukarno, a former director general of post and telecommunications, said an independent regulatory body was needed to monitor and oversee the implementation of telecommunications law.

The regulatory body, which would be independent of the industry, would oversee the judicial aspects of telecommunications operations.

The government is the controlling shareholder in PT Telkom Indonesia, which holds a monopoly on domestic telecommunications service, and PT Indosat, one of two international service providers in the country.

Telecommunications companies also plan to develop their operations into a self-regulatory industry setting its own code of conduct and dispute-settlement mechanism.

Designed to further liberalize the telecommunications sector, the bill will ease restrictions on new domestic and foreign players.

Sukarno said that due to mutual recognition of operational standards, the government should stipulate in the bill its provisions on technical qualification and certification.(01)