Telkom prepares two join ventures
Telkom prepares two join ventures
JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned domestic telecommunications
operator PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) is negotiating with
private firms to set up two joint ventures which will operate in
cellular telecommunications services.
"We are still negotiating with PT Centralindo Panca Sakti and
PT Rajasa Hazanah Perkasa to set up joint ventures," Telkom's
president Setyanto P. Santosa said after hosting a gala dinner
here Thursday evening for Telkom's business partners.
Centralindo and Rajasa currently operate cellular mobile
telecommunications under a revenue sharing plan with Telkom.
Under the plan, private firms are usually required to extend some
30 percent of their revenues to Telkom. However, based on a
government regulation and a decree by the Ministry of Tourism,
Post and Telecommunications, which were issued in 1993, the
revenue sharing plan with Telkom will be abolished.
Centralindo, currently operating the advanced mobile phone
system (AMPS-800) in Central and East Java, has some 9,200
subscribers and expects to install 20,000 lines by 2000.
Centralindo is jointly owned by the Djatikusomo, the Atmaja and
the Pribadi families.
Rajasa, which operates Nordic mobile telephones (NMT-450) in
Jakarta and Bandung in West Java, has about 15,000 subscribers.
The company, established by the Taher family, is now jointly
owned by PT Bina Reksa Perdana (owned by Hutomo Mandala Putra),
Bell Atlantic and International Wireless Communications of the
United States.
Price
According to Setyanto, joint venture arrangements will give
Telkom's partners longer investment plans, which should cause the
prices of handsets to go down.
"In an eight-year revenue sharing scheme, for instance, an
investor will offer products expensively to gain profits within
the limited period. If the investor establishes a joint venture,
it will have a longer period to recover its investment. This way
they can charge cheaper handset prices," he said, adding that the
revenue sharing plans with Rajasa and Centralindo will expire
within the next three to four years.
Telkom already has a number joint ventures in the cellular
mobile telecommunications business, including PT Satelindo, which
runs the Global System for Mobile Communications/GSM (with a
stake of 7.5 percent); PT Komselindo, which runs the digital
advanced mobile phone service/AMPS (35 percent); PT Telekomindo
Prima Bakti, which runs AMPS (10 percent); and PT Telkomsel,
which runs GSM (51 percent).
Telkom, which plans to float its shares in London, New York
and Jakarta later this year, also has ownerships in several basic
telecommunications-related firms, including PT Ratelindo, a radio
phone operator (with a stake of 45 percent) and PT Satelit Palapa
Nusantara, a recycled-satellite operator (25.5 percent). (icn)