Telkom plans linkup with S'pore SingTel

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) said on Thursday that it would cooperate with Singapore Telecom (Singtel) to build a submarine cable network in its bid to enter the international direct dialing (IDD) market in 2003.

Telkom director of operations and marketing Komarudin Sastrakoesoemah said that technically Telkom would not face many difficulties in entering the IDD market as it had invested in cable network infrastructures and satellite transmissions with the Telkom I satellite, Antara reported.

Komarudin said SingTel was eager to extend its submarine cable network across the world, including through Indonesia, and was ready to invest.

In light of the new telecommunications law to come into effect on Sept. 8, the government announced last week the earlier termination of Telkom's monopoly over local and domestic long distance call services to 2002 and 2003, from the initial schedule of 2010 and 2005 respectively.

State-owned PT Indosat's duopoly over international telephone services, shared with its subsidiary PT Satelindo, will also be revoked one year earlier in 2003 from the initial 2004.

"This means Telkom could enter the international market a year earlier," Komaruddin said.

Telkom's strong customer base in the local and domestic long distance markets will enable it to compete with Indosat for a share of the international telephone services market, he said.

The transition from being a domestic to an international player will require Telkom to change its company regulations and obtain consent from shareholders for the change in status, Komaruddin said. (10)