Telephone contractors to meet govt target

Telephone contractors to meet govt target

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned PT Telkom Indonesia said here
yesterday that five private companies licensed to build and
operate telephone facilities in the country have committed to
meet their targets despite the monetary crisis.

Telkom's coordinator of the joint operation (KSO) monitoring
team, S. Widyonarko, said that some of them might not be able to
reach their target for this year.

But he said that they would speed up the construction of new
telephone lines in the following years so that their long-range
targets would be achieved.

The government announced recently a massive retrenchment
program including the delay of big infrastructure projects to
cope with the monetary crisis, which has caused a decline in the
rupiah by about 35 percent since early July.

"We have to evaluate the contractors periodically. Though
there have been some delays in installation schedules, they have
so far performed well," he said in a joint press conference
between PT Telkom and its five partners.

In January 1996, PT Telkom handed over the management of its
telecommunication networks in Sumatra, Kalimantan, West and
Central Java, Sulawesi, Maluku, Irian Jaya and Nusa Tenggara to
five companies under joint operation contracts.

The privatization is expected to support the government's
target to install five million lines during the current Sixth
Five-Year Development Plan (Repelita VI) which will end in March
1999.

The five firms are required to install two million lines and
manage them and existing lines until 2010, while Telkom is to
operate, manage and develop three million lines in Greater
Jakarta and East Java.

The five private firms, each joint ventures between domestic
and overseas operators, are PT Pramindo Ikat Nusantara which is
responsible for installing 500,000 new lines in Sumatra, PT
Ariawest International (500,000 lines in West Java), PT Mitra
Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia (400,000 lines in Central Java),
PT Daya Mitra Telekomunikasi Mitratel (237,000 lines in
Kalimantan) and PT Bukaka SingTel International (403,000 lines in
eastern Indonesia).

To deal with the projects, the five companies have been
granted about US$1.3 billion in foreign loans and a sum of some
$1.05 billion representing total equity from shareholders.

Two years after the KSO signing, Telkom and the five private
firms reaffirmed yesterday their joint commitment to the
provision of world class telecommunications in Indonesia by 2001.

"We're confident the joint operation scheme will further
accelerate the telecommunications process throughout Indonesia,
while ensuring that even the remotest parts of Indonesia have
access to affordable telecommunications facilities," Telkom's
president Asman A. Nasution said in a written statement.

Widyonarko, however, refused to disclose whether the five
private firms would be assigned to install more lines than the
original targets.

Late last year the government increased the five million
target to eight million lines, including 6.7 million fixed lines
and a network capacity for 1.3 million mobile phones.

Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications secretary-
general Jonathan L. Parapak said yesterday some of the five firms
failed to install enough lines this year.

"But they said they will accomplish the total required lines
by 1999. They will also probably install more lines," he said,
adding that none of the five firms had been penalized for their
tardiness. (icn)