Telkom, Sofrecom to set up JVC

Telkom, Sofrecom to set up JVC

JAKARTA (JP): State domestic telecommunications company PT
Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) plans to set up a joint venture
company with France's Sofrecom.

The company's director of operations and marketing, Dadad
Kustiwa, said yesterday the joint venture was necessary to
improve Indonesia's telecommunication services.

"Domestic firms including Astra Graphia would probably involve
in the joint venture company," he said.

He refused to give further details about the plan.

Meanwhile, Telkom has expanded its computerized system to
administer and manage its telephone network and customer
services.

"The computerized customer management system, which adopts
Girafe technology, is designed to improve Telkom's efficiency and
customer services," he said after the launching of the system in
Telkom's West Jakarta office.

The customer management system, dubbed Siska from its
Indonesian acronym, was launched the secretary-general of the
Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication, Jonathan L.
Parapak.

Kustiwa said Telkom would apply the customer management system
in the five regions where telecommunications networks were being
operated by private firms until 2010.

Parapak encouraged Telkom to use the joint venture firm to
penetrate international markets.

"I hope the joint venture company won't deal with domestic
business only, but also market the product to Africa, Asia or
even developed countries," he said.

Sofrecom's director for the Siska project, Herve Suquet, said
the joint venture company was expected to be incorporated by the
end of this year.

"We will be a minority shareholders in the joint venture
company which will also involve other Indonesians parties," he
said.

The joint venture would also provide telecommunications
consultation services, he said.

He said Sofrecom, a subsidiary of France Telecom, had also
developed similar projects using the Girafe technology in several
countries including Thailand, South Africa and several South
American countries.

The Siska system is designed to reduce the time taken to give
new customers a phone connection, speed up the repair of faulty
lines and enable Telkom to issue more detailed bills to its
customers.

Siska said the system would not increase customers' costs.

The system, which is based on the Girafe customer management
system developed in Paris, was chosen by Telkom in 1994.

Dadad said that after Siska was installed at Telkom's South
Jakarta office complaints dropped to 2,000 in the second semester
last year from 12,000 in the previous semester.

He said the cost of implementing the system across the city
and in Surabaya, East Java, was about Rp 80 billion (US$33.2
million).

"We project that by the end of 1998, the Siska system will
cover all areas within the greater Jakarta area and East Java,"
he said.

Loans from the World Bank provided the Rp 80 billion. (icn)