Telephone rate hike

Telephone rate hike

In January, telephone rates will dramatically increase. The rate for local calls will increase by 30 percent. The increase is part of the state minister of communications and telecommunication's decree on the progressive increases in telephone rates by 45 percent within three years. In reality, phone call prices have increased by 30 percent in just the last year. Obviously something is wrong here.

One classic reason to increase phone rates is the drop in PT Telkom's revenue this year, the first ever in the history of the state company.

The customer base of PT Telkom has expanded to remote areas and villages. Telkom is also the only company with a telecommunications system in the country, plus technology has developed to the stage that telephone services cost less. Still we must question why Telkom has failed to improve its financial performance.

It is time for the government to reshuffle PT Telkom management to make it more efficient for the sake of the company's customers.

-- Koran Tempo, Jakarta