Telkomsel: providing new technology as it happens
Telkomsel: providing new technology as it happens
Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications provider PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel) has proven itself a leading operator since its establishment five years ago, with a market share of 47 percent nationwide.
The company's director of operation, Laurens J.M. Bulters, said that as the market leader of digital mobile cellular service in Indonesia, it is the aim of Telkomsel to introduce any new technology to the public.
"We are maintaining our customers by introducing new innovations and services as they happen. We are also bringing new technology gradually to the Indonesians in general," he said.
In this era of information technology, when people become far more mobile and deeper involved in the Internet, Telkomsel is about to introduce its Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) services. WAP allows people to get data and information from the Internet on their cell phones.
Future wireless systems will provide users not only voice, text and audio features, but also high-quality images and video in the wideband frequency. This will include interactive news delivery (voice, video, e-mail, graphics), interactive audio, Internet games and video conferencing with file transfer capability.
"Telkomsel will implement WAP after we introduced the Short Messaging Service, the simplest example of data transmission on the cellular feature," said Bulters.
He said that when WAP was applied, Telkomsel users would, for example, be able to check movies schedules at cinemas in Jakarta.
"We will be a kind of portal for various information prepared by certain providers," he said.
"The other potential WAP application in Indonesia would be e- commerce," he said.
"People will be able to shop 24 hours a day, and they can use their cell phones. This means unlimited shopping hours. In addition, businesses can work paperless, no documentation or paperwork. Then deals can be achieved anytime, anywhere, as the Internet is in your pocket," he said.
He said that the WAP application via Telkomsel was schedule to run later this year.
"The WAP application is only one step to bringing information technology to Indonesians gradually as we are entering the 3G," he said.
For its initial phase, the WAP service will only apply to Telkomsel's kartuHALO, its postpaid product for the GSM Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.
GSM technology evolved from GSM 900 (working in 900 megahertz) and GSM 1800 (1.8 gigahertz), to WAP, to General Package Radio Service (GPRS), to Enhanced Data-rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) and then the 3G, which is targeted to deliver a wide variety of wireless services, combining high-speed mobile access with Mobile Multimedia and Internet Protocol-based services.
Bulters said, however, that in implementing the access, including WAP, "We have to realize the interests of the cell- phone users. Therefore, we must see the market. From various experiences, we have learned that content is the key factor. That's why the VHS format conquered Betamax and VCC in the video era, and why Playstation now leads its rivals. It's about content."
Internet and mobile communications have been the most desirable facilities. People want to be always accessible anywhere they are. Telkomsel is committed to bringing cellular phone availability to all Indonesians who enjoy these commodities.
Such an attempt will keep Telkomsel as the pioneer and trendsetter in the mobile cellular telecommunications industry in Indonesia.
In a related step, Telkomsel plans to introduce SMS to its simPATI prepaid GSM card users. Later, they will also be able to refill their cards electronically via the Internet.
With some 1,200 base transceiver stations (BTS) across Indonesia, Telkomsel also pledges to offer good coverage. Some 400 additional BTS are planned for this year, with one-third of them to be installed in Greater Jakarta.
Established on May 26, 1995, Telkomsel is owned by PT Telkom, PT Indosat, KPN Royal Dutch Telecom and PT Setdco Megacell Asia. Telkomsel keeps improving itself and its performance in order to continue growing and to remain the most innovative cellular operator in the country.