The latest player in the cellular industry, PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler, launched its GSM services in Java on Wednesday under its new brand name, Axis.

President director and CEO Erik Aas said the company offered more simple, transparent and competitive pricing than its competitors.

"Cellular users here often feel deceived (by complicated pricing). To avoid paying more, they have to change operators over and over again, which is really unnecessary," he said. Thus, he said, Axis offered a pricing mechanism that was transparent and measurable by subscribers, offering Rp 60 for a text message, Rp 60 per minute for calls between Axis numbers and Rp 600 per minute for calls between different operators.

Axis GSM coverage currently includes East Java, West Java, Greater Jakarta and Banten. The network is planned to expand to Sumatra, Central Java, Bali and Lombok.

"By the end of the year, we should have approximately 3,700 base transceiver stations in both Java and Sumatra. We are investing US$1 billion for our operation and infrastructure development here," Aas said.

Though a newcomer against incumbents such as Telkomsel, Indosat and Excelcomindo, Aas said he was confident of Indonesian market potential since about 150 million people did not yet have mobile phones.

"This makes it perfect for a GSM provider like us to contribute to the nation's growth in terms of making GSM services more affordable," he said.

Natrindo is now 51 percent owned by Saudi Arabian firm Saudi Telecommunications Company after the company acquired shares from Malaysia's Maxis Communications Berhad in June. Maxis now controls 44 percent. (lva)

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