JAKARTA, Indonesia-The government of Indonesia could issue several new personal communications services licenses next year in the 1.8-1.9 GHz frequency band, according to international news reports.
Three new cellular operators were licensed in the last two years to build Global System for Mobile cellular communications networks. The country of 200 million people also has at least two analog networks.
A few more players aren’t expected to impact the wireless market drastically, said Betsy Ricci, spokeswoman for Nynex Corp. The New York telecom company has done landline work in Indonesia since 1989 and joined the Excelcomindo wireless venture, which won the third GSM license.
“Even with other licenses granted, there is still a huge potential in this market. And our projections for the area took competition into account. This doesn’t change our assessment of this as an excellent opportunity,” Ricci said.
The three GSM operators are Telkomsel, Satelindo and Excelcomindo. PT Telkomsel is owned by PT Telkom and PT Indosat; Telkomsel has been seeking a strategic investor.
Satelindo (PT Satelit Palapa Indonesia) is owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, PT Telkom, PT Indosat, and Bambang Trihatmodjo, the son of Indonesia President Suharto.
Excelcomindo is 23 percent owned by Nynex, 42.5 percent by PT Telekomindo and other partners include the Mitsui trading firm, the retirement foundation for the Indonesian army and the attorney general’s office.
