Telephone charge hike

The government plans to raise fixed-line telephone charges by an average of 15 percent by the end of this year. The decision was made to balance the ratio between overseas and domestic call charges. Domestic charges are subsidized by revenues from overseas calls. Therefore, new investors are discouraged from entering the market, the government says.

The government explanation is understandable given that PT Telkom, the state-owned telephone operator, has failed to install new telephone lines (STT).

However, judged from the global trend, the government's plan to increase telephone charges is outdated. The global trend is for telephone charges to steadily decrease from year to year in line with the development of internet telecommunications technology.

In the situation where the government has a monopoly, the only matters taken into consideration in increasing charges are investment and operational costs. Empathy for consumers and respect for consumers' rights have almost totally been ignored in making the decision to raise charges.

This has the usual weakness of the government in deciding on new policies, and it is the consumers who are always the victims of these policies.

It is interesting to observe the cellular phone business, which is run by the private sector based on market competition, instead of a monopoly. This means that the interests and satisfaction of consumers is number one in the cellular phone business.

Currently, there are 8 million telephone lines (provided by PT Telkom) in the archipelago, while it is estimated that there will be 14.5 million cellular phones by the end of this year.

Therefore, we hope that PT Telkom improves its service to its customers should telephone charges be increased by the end of this year. We would also suggest that the monopoly in this business be ended to create healthier competition and better services for the public.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta

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Telephone charge hike

On Nathaniel Heatwole and airline security

Nathaniel Heatwole certainly could have used better judgment in his effort to alert Transportation Security Administration officials to glaring holes in airline security. But he hardly deserves prison for smuggling box cutters and other possible weapons onto aircraft and telling the Transportation Security Administration via email that he'd done it.

TSA bureaucrats and federal prosecutors instead are treating the case as though Heatwole actually had sought to harm airline passengers.

Prosecutors should keep in mind that Heatwole is the air travel equivalent of the canary in a coal mine. By exposing security breaches, he may well have saved lives. That's hardly an offense that should yield the 10 years in prison threatened by embarrassed bureaucrats.

-- The Tribune Chronicle, Warren, Ohio