Telkom starts Lampung-Bali fiber-optic network

JAKARTA (JP): PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) has begun constructing a submarine fiber optic network.

The network linking Tanjungkarang in Lampung and Denpasar in Bali is expected to improve the service of the state-owned domestic telecommunications company.

Telkom's general manager for telecommunications network development planning, Achadiat Djajawinata, said here yesterday that the network is expected to increase the successful call ratio in the country to 65 percent for local calls and to 45 percent for long distance calls.

The current successful call ratio ranges between 30 percent and 40 percent.

"The submarine fiber optic cable project, valued at 300 million French francs (US$56.39 million), will be accomplished within the next two years," Achadiat told reporters during a break at a seminar on global communications at Hotel Borobudur Inter-Continental here.

He said the project, called the northern Java route, will have a total capacity of 30,240 channels. The network, once installed, can also be utilized for cable television.

According to Achadiat, the project is financially assisted by the French government and technically assisted by the French telecommunications company, Alcatel.

He explained that it is part of Indonesia's major telecommunications development program, called Protel V, which is supported by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

"Indonesia will use fiber optic cables for all of its communication networks in the coming years," he said.

Telkom's development director, Koesmarihati Sugondo, told the seminar that within the current Sixth Five Year Development Plan (Repelita VI) period, the company expects to complete all of its fiber optic projects.

She said the fiber optic projects include the Pangkalpinang- Pontianak network, which will connect Bangka island in South Sumatra with West Kalimantan, and the Surabaya-Ujungpandang- Banjarmasin network, that will link East Java, South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan.

A network will also connect Ambon in Maluku with Sorong, Biak and Jayapura in Irian Jaya.

The government will tender contracts for the projects soon, Koesmarihati said. (icn)