Telstra wants mobile radio phone project

Telstra wants mobile radio phone project

JAKARTA (JP): After losing the battle for shares in PT
Telkomsel, Australia's Telstra now wants to buy a stake in
another Indonesian telecommunications provider.

A telecommunications analyst said yesterday that the
Australian company was now in an "advanced phase" of its newest
share acquisition plan in a mobile radio phone firm.

Telstra and Cable & Wires of Britain have recently been beaten
by PTT Telecom Netherlands in a bidding for a 22.5 percent stake
worth some US$500 million in Telkomsel, a provider of the global
system for mobile communications (GSM) owned by PT Telkom and PT
Indosat.

Radio trunking system need less infrastructure investment than
cellular phone networks, therefore lowering air-time charges to
customers.

The 400 megahertz system is also able to transmit data and
connect to household telephones, although it is usually offered
to companies or institutions, not individuals.

There are three mobile radio phone firms currently operating
in Indonesia, PT Mobilkom Telekomindo, PT Jastrindo Dinamika and
PT Maesa Nusatama.

The analyst, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Telstra
had committed to work with private and public Indonesian
companies on projects worth more than $200 million.

The Australian government-owned company has already been
involved in PT Mitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia to install a
telecommunications network in Central Java in the coming 15
years.

Mitra Global, which will install 400,000 fixed telephone lines
in Central Java, is 20 percent owned by PT Widya Duta, 30 percent
by PT Indosat, 20 percent by Telstra, 15 percent by NTT, 2.5
percent by Kokarindo, 10 percent by Krida, 1.25 percent by Itochu
and 1.25 percent by Sumitomo. (icn)