Telephones become a grassroots demand

Telephones become a grassroots demand

Telephones are virtually a basic need these days and home
installation is becoming easier and cheaper. To coincide with World
Telecommunications Day which falls today, The Jakarta Post reporter
Dwi Atmanta wrote the following story, with reports from Devi M.
Asmarani and Kosasih Deradjat.

JAKARTA (JP): The telephone proved to be a true friend when
riots and looting overwhelmed the capital last week.

With many stranded all night in their offices, the telephone
helped to ease the minds of their families worrying at home.

"It would have been a very sad day if my wife and son fell
victim to merciless looters when I was not at home. But by calling
her I could at least try to keep her calm," Andre, an employee of
a private company in Central Jakarta, said recalling the tense
night.

He went without sleep, and repeatedly rang his scared wife to
make sure she was okay. Andre's family live a 45 minute drive away
from Jakarta in Tangerang.

"There was nothing I could do but try to sooth her. I even
lied to her and told her that the looting had eased and the
situation was under control," he said.

Offices of the state telecommunications company PT Telkom have
reportedly been open 24 hours to receive reports of disrupted
services.

For the past two years, the telephone has been a faithful
friend for Sulami, a resident of Klaten, a small town near
Surakarta in Central Java.

She has lived alone in a big house since her children left to
find work elsewhere. Every day, just after dusk, Sulami devotes a
few minutes to phoning her children and grandchildren.

"Every time I receive a call from my children or
grandchildren, I forget my loneliness," the 65-year-old, who makes
a living from her rice field, said.

Due to the cost of phoning, she rarely dials herself but sits
and waits for her beloved offspring to ring her. Her son, who lives
in Semarang, the provincial capital, provided the telephone for
her.

Demands

Telephones, conventional and wireless, are more than just an
easy way of talking to people. As telecommunication technology has
developed, people have started to demand a vast range of
conveniences.

Cellular phones using the global system for mobile
communications (GSM), for example, boast the convenience of instant
communications to and from anywhere in the world.

Not until the mid 1990s could Indonesians imagine making a
call from deep in a forest or on a mountain summit, improbable
sites for a public telephone.

"The cellular phone has become one of my basic needs. Monthly
bills do not matter to me because it is a must, whether I like it
or not. The same reason applies to why I have to eat or drink,"
said Koko, who owns an advertising firm.

But family ties were the true reason he bought a cellular
telephone two years ago, he said.

"I spend most of my day away from my wife. Only cell phones
enable us to keep in touch with each other wherever we are," he
said.

Mobile phones are a futuristic dream that has come true,
albeit an expensive one.

The demand for quick information has made many belittle the
costs involved. Even a reporter from a small daily newspaper who
earns less than Rp 1.5 million (US$150) per month, finds it
necessary to have a mobile phone.

However, it is only a matter of time before consumers will
have to spend less for the conveniences offered by cellular phones.

The growth of telecommunications facilities, and subscribers
to both conventional and wireless servers, was in overdrive until
the economic crisis broke.

Under a telecommunication technology project known as
Nusantara 21, it is predicted that by 2020 the number of fixed
telephone lines will reach at least 20 percent of the projected
population of 250 million, and the number of mobile cellular
telephone lines will make up between 10 percent and 20 percent of
the country's total telephone lines.

The project will link the country's 27 provincial capitals
with 155 Mbps widebands. All existing telecommunications
infrastructure, including satellites, conventional and terrestrial
cables, submarine cables and terrestrial radio links are to be
integrated into the massive new telecommunications network.

Major cities and district capitals should be hooked up by
2001.

Needless to say, complaints -- usually regarding over-priced
bills and dialing difficulties -- are a black spot on the dreams of
a seamless telecommunications network.

Sunardi, a resident of a housing complex in Klender, East
Jakarta, could hardly believe that his phone bill had doubled from
an average of Rp 100,000 a month after he made a number of premium
rate calls.

These charges are levied on a new service, launched by PT
Telkom in August last year, which offers an intelligent network
giving consumers access to multimedia systems. But the
sophisticated system has been reduced to an mere entertainment and
games service.

Quiz

Six companies provide the new service, better known as Japati.
Most present quiz programs in cooperation with private TV stations.
The quiz games offer cash prizes of up to Rp 2.5 million.

In exchange for use of its technology, Telkom imposed a
special call rate ranging between Rp 1,225 and Rp 3,300 per minute,
much to the surprise and chagrin of users. This type of telephone
number usually starts with the prefix 0809.

Sunardi refused to pay the bill, saying that he never dialed
numbers beginning with 0809. But Telkom turned a deaf ear to his
complaints, and showed him the list of calls made from his number,
including those made on premium rates.

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation has lodged a protest with
the providers of Japati for allegedly encouraging participants to
spend a long time on the phone. The foundation criticized the
service providers for not revealing enough information about the
rules of the quiz game and the new telephone service.

Consumers no longer just want access to phones and appealing
games. They clearly expect service providers to listen to their
complaints and keep their promises too.