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)