Telxsel, Chinese firm to enter wireless telephone services
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)