Telkom urged to take over KSO's assets
JAKARTA (JP): Most of the joint cooperation scheme (KSO) partners of state-owned PT Telkom have opted for a buy out of their assets rather than continuing with the current contract as originally suggested by the publicly-listed telecommunication company.
Except for PT Pramindo Ikat Nusantara which opted for a continuation of the scheme under a joint venture company, Telkom's four other KSO partners preferred the company take over their assets, the Director General of Post and Telecommunications Sasmito Dirdjo said here on Friday.
Sasmito said in a statement that PT AriaWest International would like to return its assets to Telkom in exchange for Telkom's stake in cellular service operator PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo). Telkom owns 23 percent of Satelindo.
Sasmito also said that AriaWest also required Telkom to take over its debts as well as to pay a certain amount of cash in return for its telecommunication assets in West Java.
But Telkom only agreed to giving up its stake in Satelindo and taking over AriaWest's debts, Sasmito said in the statement read by the Secretary of the Directorate General Agus Pramono at a media briefing.
"Negotiations are still underway to settle the difference," he added.
Telkom's KSO partner in Central Java, PT Mitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia (MGTI), meanwhile would like to sell back its assets based on the investment value.
He said that Telkom basically agreed with the proposal as long as the investment value was reasonable and the transaction was done after due diligence.
PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi would also like to sell back its assets in Kalimantan to Telkom, but they were still divided over the value of those assets.
"Negotiations are still going on to narrow the difference", Sasmito said.
Negotiations were also underway with Telkom's partner in eastern Indonesia, PT Bukaka SingTel International, over Telkom's buy out bid, he said.
Sasmito said that in short, all four partners would like Telkom to buy out their assets in their KSO regions at a profit without wanting to share the risk.
"While in fact, risk sharing should be included in the KSO project in the event of a crisis," Sasmito said.
The Minister of Transportation and Communications Agum Gumelar said that the most important thing was to avoid taking the dispute to the international level, and that he had asked the director-general of post and communications to facilitate the problem.
The government said earlier that it would leave the final decision to Telkom and partners shareholders.
The government, represented by the Ministry of Finance, owns 66.2 percent of Telkom, while the other 33.8 percent is owned by the investing public.
World telecommunication giants like France Cable et Radio, America's AT&T, Britain's Cable & Wireless Plc., Australian Telstra Global Ltd., Japan's Marubeni Corp., Sumitomo Corp. and Itochu Corp., Singapore Telecom International Pte. Ltd., and Hong Kong's TM Communications Limited are currently involved as shareholders in the five joint venture companies. (tnt)