Telxsel, Chinese firm to enter wireless telephone services
JAKARTA (JP): PT Telekomunikasi Xinwei Selular (Telxsel) will soon enter the wireless telephone market in cooperation with Chinese Xinwei Telecom Technology, Ltd.
Telxsel President Agung Laksono said here on Thursday that the new telecommunications operator would provide services for both fixed telephone lines and mobile phones.
He said that the company would use the Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (SCDMA) wireless local loop system technology developed by the Chinese company.
The technology, which utilizes radio frequencies, could be used for both fixed line and mobile telephone services, Agung said. "Our system could be used for mobile phones as well," he told reporters following the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Chinese company.
Under the agreement, the Chinese company would provide the technology and the infrastructure such as the base station controller and handsets.
The above picture shows Agung (far right), Xinwei general manager Furui Wan (second right), Telxsel's director for business development Nagdi Mulyadi (second left) and Xinwei executive Ai Jun (far left) signing the agreement.
Agung, who is a part owner of Telxsel with Abdul Gafur, said that in the first stage of the company's operation they would only provide telephone services to customers in the Greater Jakarta area.
Both Agung and Gafur were members of the Cabinet under former president Soeharto.
The company was expected to be ready to provide fixed and mobile phone services by the end of this year, he said. He was optimistic that many people would turn to Texsel, especially those in the rural areas, as the system would have no blank spots and would be much cheaper than conventional mobile phone systems.
"We're not trying to compete with the existing mobile operators but to enter the currently unserviced segments of the community," he said, citing that those living in rural areas and in the middle to lower-income segments of the community would be the company's main targets. (10)