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Astro TV Indonesia temporarily off air
Antara , Jakarta | Fri, 04/11/2008 3:29 PM | Headlines
The Information and Communications Ministry on Friday temporarily suspended the operations of pay TV provider Astro Nusantara.The ministry's acting spokesman, Freddy Tulung, said the suspension was related to the failure of Astro partner PT Direct Vision to pay an obligatory fee.
Astro operator Direct Vision posted an announcement on its website that as of 10 a.m. on Friday, Astro was off the air.
Freddy said the ministry would allow Astro to return to the air once Direct Vision fulfilled all of its obligations. (***)
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Proastro (not verified) — Wed, 06/11/2008 - 2:07pm
the inside story is simply this:
The head of the Communications Department is in cohoots with MNC/RCTV who are losing out on business big time since Astro came on gangbusters. The dude gets paid on the side, and he issues an offical letter dated 1 April for Astro to fix the "infractions" however small they are. The list consisted of 4 items, 3 of which were resolved immmediately. The remaining item was a gov inspection of their new satellite receiver, which depends on the officials being available to inspect it, of course.
Funny thing is although the letter was dated 1 April, it wasnt presented to Astro until ten days later, the Thursday before the big EPL weekend. This gave Asto and the gov one day to do the inspection, on which of course the Communications Dept stalled. Of course this was intentional.
These are old school boys and they do a disservice to Indonesia and the government. Jusuf Kalla wanted to watch the games on Sunday and was "PISSED" that Astro was off. When he found out what dirt had happened, he made sure it got rectified ASAP. Otherwise, Astro might still be off the air today.!
The Reader (not verified) — Sun, 06/01/2008 - 6:17pm
It is a well known fact that Indonesia has very confusing rules when come to do business in Indonesia. Just like the traffic signs and road system in Jakarta.
The Reader (not verified) — Mon, 05/05/2008 - 9:25pm
Coincidentally, Astro's Competitors are also owned by the government.
The Reader (not verified) — Mon, 05/05/2008 - 7:03pm
To be fair, corruption level in Indonesia is now much more controlled and restraint that in the past. Astro may want to highlight the corruption money asked by the authorities or regulators?
The Responder (not verified) — Fri, 04/18/2008 - 9:40am
well, see it the other way around, they are being banned simply because they didnt play by the rules... dont solely blame the government, you're not being objective..if a foreign company wants to invest in Indonesia, before investing large money (like u said) then they ought to investigate about the law in the country dont you think??? invest some of the money for legal advices please, its all simple rules they neglected.. regarding EPL, it is business, but its abusing market power and its prohibited under Indonesian competition law, but let KPPU be the judge of that.. bottom line: if you dont want to be stumbled by the rule then play by it..simple!
The Responder (not verified) — Fri, 04/18/2008 - 9:38am
well, see it the other way around, they are being banned simply because they didnt play by the rules... dont solely blame the government, you're not being objective..if a foreign company wants to invest in Indonesia, before investing large money (like u said) then they ought to investigate about the law in the country dont you think??? invest some of the money for legal advices please, its all simple rules they neglected.. regarding EPL, it is business, but its abusing market power and its prohibited under Indonesian competition law, but let KPPU be the judge of that.. bottom line: if you dont want to be stumbled by the rule then play by it..simple!
The Reader (not verified) — Thu, 04/17/2008 - 2:01pm
i am sure someone didn't pay their required corruption money!!
The Reader (not verified) — Mon, 04/14/2008 - 2:51pm
What else is new in this country ?? As I can recall from the Jakarta Post, Astro already faced stumbling blocks even before they started airing and doing business in Indonesia. One government department approved the foreign investment and another government department refused to issue the licence claiming that communication rights should not be given to foreign player. As usual, they do not "clean up their houses first before inviting guests in". Meanwhile Astro must have already incurred cost joining up with Lippo Group.
I am sure there are hidden reasons for Astro being off air, not because of their own doing. Come on, they have invested so much into this venture and licensing fees should have already being costed into their projections long ago.
As for change of address, that is a lame excuse for shutting down an operation. Probably there are thousands of businesses whose addresses have been changed and the government know two hoots about it. Correct me if I am wrong !!
As far as EPL is concerned, this is pure business. There is no free meal in this world. EPL rights are not cheap to come by and just because Astro can pay, what is the big hoo haa that the public cannot view it ?? Is it obligatory to give the public free views without having to pay ?? What if Indovision or Kabelvision paid for the rights to EPL ?? Do you think they will let you view it for free without having to install Indovision or Kabelvision ??
Come on, give me a break man. Don't be a hypocrite just because you do not see the business opportunity and make use of it. Instead, as usual here, unscupulous methods are used to disrupt others' success just for the your own benefits, just because others are smarter than you.
I am sure the dillemma of Astro is not the only one faced by foreign investors into this country. It is about the government take a serious look into their internal procedures before wasting money to go abroad and invite foreign investments into this country.
The Reader (not verified) — Mon, 04/14/2008 - 11:49am
The only reason people subcribe to Astro is bcos of the EPL lets be honest about it. The timing of the shutdown here on Fri was sheer intelingence to restrict EPL lovers here their sheer to watching soccer on a weekend. Sure shutting down on a Monday would not cause much of an "ouch" as it has done for the weekend. Astro customer service is just amazing, all it will tell you is that it has "No Information!", like everyone else we as customers have been held hostage and don't even know what is happening. I think this really sucks. The worst of it all here is, the government is involve. Shouldn't the government be doing things to make their people happy instead of the other way round? Unbelievable! Now i wonder what will happen if i don't pay the bill for sometime....
The Reader (not verified) — Mon, 04/14/2008 - 7:33am
A national newspaper on Sunday reported that Astro was taken off air due to:
1. Not paying the obligatory fee.
2. Not informing the government on address-change.
3. Not using the proper satellite to broadcast their programs.
Astro's spokeperson told the newspaper that on Friday afternoon the inspection progress have reached 95% completion, that Astro have paid the fee on Thursday and it has been successfully remitted in the government's account, that the address-change has been informed to the government also on Thursday.
Given above facts, why until this Monday Astro is still off-air?? If Astro claimed to have fulfilled every obligation, it must be on-air again Saturday! I do not think the government will risk many foreign investors reluctant to come here by giving injustice treatment. What I see is that Astro itself failed to fulfill those obligations.
Also the off-air process seemed so sudden, no information at all the day before, and it just went-off until now. How come?