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)