Tourist buses to have GSM telephones

Tourist buses to have GSM telephones

JAKARTA (JP): PT Telkomsel plans to install later this year
car-mounted telephones in tourist buses for the exclusive use of
foreign visitors holding Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards
for the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications system.

"We will also issue prepaid SIM cards to be used on public GSM
phones," a Telkomsel director, Garuda Sugardo, said Tuesday.

He said that Telkomsel will soon conduct negotiations with
selected travel agents to accomplish the plan and select the
routes for the tourist buses. "We will use terminals prepared by
Schlumberger of France," he added.

When commercially implemented, he said he expects the prepaid
SIM cards to face competition.

Apart from Telkomsel, there are two other GSM operators in
Indonesia -- PT Exelcomindo Pratama, which will commence
operations later this year, and PT Satelindo, which currently
controls the market in Greater Jakarta.

Innovative and diversified services for GSM subscribers are
the only way to win the GSM market amid tight competition among
the country's cellular telecommunications operators because
tariffs are arranged by the government.

Telkomsel has long planned the installation of public GSM
phones but has delayed installation because its equipment
suppliers abroad have failed to support it.

Garuda said that as part of his company's efforts to improve
services, Telkomsel also plans to set up a subsidiary which will
provide distribution services.

"The planned arm will be called PT Kartu Halo Laris Manis
(Kharisma). Telkomsel, which will be a major stockholder, will
ask a number of distributors and agents to participate in the
ownership of the planned company," he said.

Telkomsel currently operates in Jakarta, North Sumatra, Riau,
West, Central and East Java, Yogyakarta and Bali with some 80,000
subscribers. The company plans to expand its operations to
Kalimantan and Sulawesi next month. (icn)