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Interconnection rate increase put on hold amid protest
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Information sharing: Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara (right), listens to a lawmaker's question at a hearing at the House of Representatives complex in Jakarta on Oct. 20. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
T
he government has decided to delay the implementation of the controversial interconnection rate cut for the next three months amid opposition from the country’s telecommunication operators.
Communication and Information Minister Rudiantara said Thursday the ministry would officiate the policy after it received report from a government-sanctioned team tasked with calculating the proper interconnection rate.
An interconnection fee is paid by one operator to another when the latter is the call destination for a cell phone user. The government has previously said that it would cut the rate to Rp 204 (1.5 US cents) per minute, down from the current figure of Rp 250.
"Operators have not reached an agreement yet, some agreed [with the new rate] and others have not," Rudiantara said.
State-owned telecommunications firm Telkom, the parent company of Telkomsel, Indonesia's largest telecommunications operator, strongly opposed the rate cut plan. The company said if the interconnection rate cut is lowered, it would suffer great loss because Telkomsel’s cost recovery rate is higher than that of other operators.
Telkom president director Alex Janangkih Sinaga said, Telkom's rate was high because the state-owned company operates in unprofitable remote areas, such as places in Eastern Indonesia.
"We built networks in rural areas but other operators only built their networks in the city. The interconnection rate should be asymmetric based on the cost of each operator," he said recently. (hwa)
