Unfair revenue format protested

JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Telecommunications Kiosks Operators (APWI) demanded on Thursday that the government revise its current 20 percent:80 percent revenue sharing arrangement with state-owned domestic telecommunications monopoly PT Telkom.

APWI chairman Ahmad S. Daulay asked the Ministry of Communications to double the kiosks operators' share to 40 percent.

"If the revenue arrangement is not revised immediately, telephone kiosks operators throughout the country will stop providing their services," the chairman of the 15,000-strong association warned.

He was speaking to reporters following a meeting with officials from the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Economy, Finance and Industry.

Ahmad asked the government for fair treatment, pointing out that Telkom only invested Rp 10 million (US$1,300) for each telephone kiosk compared to Rp 60 million invested by the private operator.

He added that telephone kiosk operators envied the large foreign joint operation scheme (KSO) partners of Telkom who had been granted a lucrative 90 percent:10 percent revenue sharing arrangement by the authority.

Five foreign KSO investors were appointed by the government to install and manage fixed-line telecommunications services in various parts of the country.

"This kind of discrimination in the telecommunications industry must be reformed," Ahmad said.

He explained that the kiosks operators' revenue had declined by about 40 percent since the economic crisis started in July last year, particularly due to the unfair revenue sharing arrangements with Telkom.

He said that telephone kiosks contributed about 18 percent of Telkom's 1997 revenue.

As a comparison, the foreign KSO operators contributed about 27 percent to Telkom's 1997 revenue. (rei)