Telkom promises faster installation

Telkom promises faster installation

JAKARTA: PT Telkom yesterday said that new telephone lines in
Jakarta should be connected from the moment they are installed
and that subscribers should no longer wait a long time.

Chief of Telkom Jakarta John Welly told reporters that the
state telecommunication company is willing to compensate for any
delay to the tune of 10 telephone pulses free for every day a
subscriber has to wait.

John, however, qualified his statement by saying that in some
areas in Jakarta it is still not possible to ensure that a
telephone is connected on the same day it is installed. In these
areas, the 10 free pulse offer is valid only if Telkom cannot
connect the telephone on the promised date.

The move is part of Telkom's drive to improve its services.
The company slashed the cost of installing telephones beginning
this month but its plan to increase the cost of local city calls
was shelved after strong public criticism.

John said there were 926,377 telephone subscribers in Greater
Jakarta at the end of 1994, including 57,773 mobile phone
subscribers.

Last year, Telkom Jakarta managed to install only 199,277
lines, well below the target of 291,292 telephone lines, he said.

"We plan to market 374,064 telephone lines in 1995, meaning
there will be more than 1.33 million subscribers by the end of
this year," he said. He added that Telkom will install 33,215 pay
phones, including 5,687 units using phone cards, within the city
and its suburbs, in 1995.

John said that under Telkom's newly revamped structure, the
Jakarta office also covers Purwakarta, Merak and Cisarua which
were previously handled by Telkom's West Java chapter. (icn)