Telkomsel's profit up

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) said on Tuesday that the number of its new cellular subscribers had increased by 1.7 million to 7.71 million during the first half of 2003.

In a press statement Telkom said that the increase in subscribers pushed higher the net profit of its cellular unit company, PT Telekomunikasi Seluler (Telkomsel), by 54 percent to Rp 1.94 trillion (US$225 million) in the first semester from Rp 1.25 trillion in the same period last year.

Telkomsel's operating revenue jumped by 51 percent to Rp 5 trillion from Rp 3.32 trillion.

The stronger earnings had also contributed to a 13 percent increase in Telkom's first half net profit of around Rp 3.78 trillion.

Telkom, the country's largest telecommunications company, owns 65 percent of the shares in Telkomsel, while Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel), holds the remaining 35 percent.

Telkom also said that during the first half, Telkomsel had invested Rp 2.6 trillion for network infrastructure in a bid to achieve this year's new subscribers target of 3.7 million.

The number of cellular subscribers in Indonesia by the end of this year is expected to grow by about 44 percent to 16.4 million from last year's 11.4 million.

Telkomsel controls around 54 percent of the domestic cellular business. The remaining 31 percent is held by PT Satelindo, which is owned by another state-owned telecom firm PT Indosat; and another 15 percent held by PT Excelcomindo Pratama.