Telephone rates to go up by 21% from June 10

Telephone rates to go up by 21% from June 10

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): State-owned telecommunications
company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) said on Friday it
would increase its rates by an average of 21.67 percent on June
10.

Telkom's vice president for corporate communications Dodi
Amarudien said the plan had been agreed upon by the government
but was still subject to approval by the House of
Representatives.

"We are planning to increase the rates on June 10 but the
final time frame will be decided after consultation with the
House," Dodie said.

Under the proposal, Telkom will start charging its customers
the new rates from midnight on June 10.

According to Dodi, the rate increases, which had been cleared
in principle by the House on May 11, were approved by then
minister of communications Agum Gumelar in a ministerial decree
issued on Thursday. Agum was appointed on Friday by President
Abdurrahman Wahid as new coordinating minister for political,
social and security affairs.

The House has agreed with the government's proposal to
increase telephone rates by 45.49 percent over the next three
years, that is a 21.67 percent for this year, 15.6 percent in
2002 and 8.22 percent in 2003.

Telkom is now making technical preparations in the
computerized payment system at 2,600 telephone offices across the
country to introduce the new rates, he said.

"The most important thing is that we have to hold information
campaigns to make people understand the need for the increase,"
he said.

According to the ministerial decree, the highest increase
would be for local calls at 28.74 percent to Rp 215 (about 2 US
cents) from Rp 167 per time unit, followed by long distance calls
at 20.9 percent to Rp 162 from Rp 134 per time unit.

Monthly administration fees will also increase by 28.9 percent
for business subscribers and 5.34 percent for residential and
social subscribers.

Meanwhile, public telephone rates will be retained at Rp 100
per time unit, Dodi said.

A time unit, also known as a pulse, is a call duration
calculated based on distance of the call. The longer the
distance, the shorter the time unit.

Dodi said that under the new rates, Telkom would implement a
single zone system in Jakarta and nearby areas which use the 021
area code, where customers will pay Rp 150 per time unit, with
one time unit lasting one minute.

"Any calls from and within the 021 area code at any time will
be charged Rp 150 per minute," Dodi said.

He said the new system, that would be implemented in Jakarta
and its surrounding areas, would be gradually introduced to all
parts of the country in the near future.

Along with the increase in the rates of land-line telephones,
the governmental decree also increases the airtime rates for
cellular phones to Rp 375 a minute from Rp 325 a minute. (25/tnt)