Telkomsel to launch 'public' GSM phones
Telkomsel to launch 'public' GSM phones
JAKARTA (JP): PT Telkomsel, one of the country's digital
cellular mobile telecommunications operators, will install
'public' phones for the exclusive use of subscribers to its
global system for mobile (GSM) communications network.
Company president Koesmarihati Sugondo said yesterday that her
company aims to provide more and more services for its
subscribers, in order to succeed amid tight competition between
Indonesia's telecommunications operators.
"We have talked with several overseas telecommunications
equipment firms. Nokia of Finland and Siemens of Germany will
support us in the trial operation of the public GSM phones," she
said.
She said that telecommunications operators should emphasize
better services and diversification of service products, since
competition is allowed only in services and not in call tariffs,
which are fixed by the government.
"Public phones installed in the right locations will be
useful, as the batteries of GSM handsets have limited operating
spans," she added.
She said that about 10 public GSM phones will be installed
within the next two months in Bandung, West Java.
"I think Bandung is the right place for the trial operation,
because we can easily monitor the phones there."
Telkomsel is 51 percent owned by the state-owned domestic
telecommunications operator PT Telkom and 49 percent by the
state-owned international telecommunications operator PT Indosat.
Bandung is the site of Telkom's headquarters.
Telkomsel was officially incorporated only in May, but the
company's GSM services have been running well on the islands of
Batam and Bintan off Southern Sumatra since 1992, when they were
established by Telkom. Telkomsel expanded its operations on
Monday into Bandung, after earlier launching operations in Medan,
North Sumatra, Surabaya, East Java, and in Bali.
Choice
In order to attract more subscribers, the company allows its
customers to choose their own handsets from the range available
from agents. This strategy is expected to result in a decline in
the price of handsets. Telkomsel subscribers may choose from at
least 36 handset models.
The company's operations director, Garuda Sugardo, said
recently that by the end of this year Telkomsel will be operating
in the Batam area (with 10,000 lines), the Medan area (10,000
lines), Bali (6,000 lines), Bandung (8,000 lines), Surabaya
(50,000 lines) and Semarang, Central Java (8,000 lines).
Telkomsel will enter the key Jakarta market next year with an
estimated 100,000 lines.
The two other GSM operators in Indonesia are PT Exelcomindo
Pratama, which will commence operations next year, and PT
Satelindo, which currently has about 40,000 subscribers in
Greater Jakarta and some 2,000 in Surabaya. (icn)