Telkom plans new bonds worth Rp 1-2 trillion

Telkom plans new bonds worth Rp 1-2 trillion

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State telecommunications firm PT Telkom Indonesia said it
planned to issue bonds worth between Rp 1 trillion (about US$100
million) and Rp 2 trillion to finance investments in 2002.

Telkom's investor relations manager, Setiawan Sulistyono, said
the proceeds from the bonds would be used to finance capital
expenditures.

"Some of these (funds) will go into PMVIS," he said on Friday.

PMVIS stands for phone mobile view internet service, and is a
relative new business segment Telkom has developed.

Setiawan said the "mobile" in PMVIS was no longer part of the
program as Telkom had integrated its cellular business with a
subsidiary, cellular operator PT Telkomsel.

The "view" in PMVIS is Telkom's cable television business.

In the first half of 2001, Telkom spent some Rp 900.30 billion
on capital expenditures, of which Rp 454.19 billion was PMVIS
related.

The other Rp 287.41 billion was spent on infrastructure
development, and Rp 158.70 billion on supporting facilities.

Setiawan declined to detail Telkom's capital expenditure
plans, and was unable to say when or where Telkom would issue the
bonds. "It just depends on demand in the market."

Telkom's plan to enter the bond market underlines its need for
cash while making ongoing compensation payments to partners with
whom it has terminated telephone operating contracts.

The publicly listed state company must also raise funds to
settle the buyout of a 35 percent stake in Telkomsel by state-
owned international call operator PT Indosat.

Plans to swap the stake with Telkom's Divre IV, which operates
its fixed-line assets in Central Java, ran aground on protests by
Divre IV employees.