JAKARTA,Indonesia—PT Telkom, Indonesia’s dominant telecommunication operator, is carrying out an auction for the development of CDMA-based fixed wireless network networks worth US$1 billion in January 2002.
Eddy Praptono, Telkom’s vice president of corporate communication, said the use of fixed wireless technology is intended to speed up the development of the country’s telephone lines, which number a mere 7.1 million lines, roughly representing 3 percent of the country’s population as of 30 September.
The Indonesian government plans to install an additional 4 million telephone lines by 2004. Some 1.2 million lines will be provided by Telkom.
Some well-known information technology (IT) vendors are already in line for the project, which will be financed through several schemes.
