Telkom, Indosat awarded project

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned listed telecom firms PT Telkom and PT Indosat have been assigned to install new telephone lines until 2004, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Director General of Post and Telecommunications Sasmito Dirdjo was quoted by Antara as saying the development project, worth about US$4 billion, would increase the country's landline telephone density from the current 2.9 percent to 4 percent by the year 2004.

He said the construction of millions of new telephone lines was expected to also promote a more rapid growth of Internet use in the country.

About 6.18 million fixed telephone lines were used across the country as of March, according to Telkom's data. (cst)