Indonesia lifts trading ban on welfare minister`s companies

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia lifted a trading ban on three firms of Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie Friday, an official said amid reports the government is working on a rescue for his debt-ridden Bakrie & Brothers group. [more, antaranews]

Bakrie Group Shares Down by 10 Percent

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Three stocks from the Bakrie & Brothers business group lifted from trade suspension on Friday dropped by almost 10 percent at noon. [more, tempointeraktif]

Indonesia asks state businesses to buy back shares

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia's president urged state companies Thursday to buy up their own shares to quell a stampede of selling that sent the main stock index skidding more than 20 percent this week.

A trading freeze imposed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange Wednesday in response to sudden, steep loses may not be lifted until next week, said State-Owned Enterprise Minister Sofyan Jalil. [more, forbes]

INDONESIA: Astro appeals against KPPU ruling

Astro All Asia Multimedia Networks has challenged a ruling by the Indonesian anti-monopoly watchdog that the company violated the anti-monopoly law in broadcasting last season's English Premier League (EPL) in Indonesia.

The appeal was filed by the Malaysia-based holding and media company that provides and operates pay-television services, to the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday. [more, asiamedia]

Qatar Telecom says Indosat tender offer has not been called off

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Qatar Telecom said its tender offer for Indonesia's second-largest listed telecommunications company Indosat has not been called off and that it is awaiting government's clarification before continuing the process. [more, forbes]

Mega-rich Bakrie burned as liquidity crisis ripples into Indonesia

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Share trading in six companies owned by Indonesia's richest man was suspended Tuesday as the effects of the global liquidity crisis rolled into Southeast Asia's biggest economy, dealers said.

The six Bakrie Group-owned companies had dropped by between a quarter and more than 40 percent as the Indonesian market took a 10 percent dive Monday after a week-long holiday at the end of the Muslim holy month. [more, antaranews]

IDX Suspends Bakrie Group Shares

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Indonesia Stock Exchange suspended on Tuesday trade on six shares of Bakrie Broters Group a day after most of the shares lost its value over the maximum one-day limit of 30 per cent. [more, tempointeractive]

CRM, Billing From FTS Picked for Indonesia's Sampoerna

FTS (News - Alert), a vendor of billing, CRM and business control products for communication and content service providers, has announced that Sampoerna Telecom Indonesia has deployed FTS' convergent prepaid-postpaid billing and customer care product for its entire subscriber base. [more, tmcnet]

Sampoerna Telecom Indonesia (STI) Successfully Deploys FTS' Convergent Prepaid-Postpaid Billing

LONDON, September 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- FTS (LSE: FTS), a global
provider of Billing, CRM and Business Control solutions for communication and
content service providers, today announced that Sampoerna Telecom Indonesia
(STI), has successfully deployed FTS' convergent prepaid-postpaid billing and
customer care solution for its entire subscriber base. [more, earthtimes]

Two Bidders for Indonesian Tower Assets

Two investment firms, Saratoga Capital and Recapital are reported to be interested in buying the tower assets currently owned by Indonesian mobile operator Excelcomindo Pratama (XL). The company currently owns over 7,000 base stations, which it values at some US$550 million. [more, cellular-news]

KPK Name Two Suspects on Bribery Case

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Corruption Eradication Commission has named Mohammad Iqbal, member of the Business Competition Supervisory Commission and Billy Sindoro President Director of First Media as suspects for bribery less than a day after the arrest was made on them.

Muhammad Iqbal will be detained at Central Jakarta Ressort Police, while Billy will be detained at West Jakarta Ressort Police, both will be under police custody for 20 days.[more, tempointeraktif]

Mobile myths, competition demystified

David O'Brien, Jakarta

Dennis Pratistha has reopened the can of worms I alluded to earlier in the year in his piece of Aug. 11, Mobile phone industry shake-up. A subsequent piece by Jakarta Post staff on Aug. 19 looks at ad spend and claims of healthy competition by the regulator and industry participants.

A review of recently published (as available for publicly held entities) first half 2008 figures makes for interesting reading. XL have managed to push their EBITDA margin up by 10 percent to 45 percent while Telkomsel as industry leader have suffered a fall from 72 percent back to 69 percent in the past year; with Indosat slipping slightly back to 50 percent (see table).[more, thejakartapost]

Indonesia Telecommunications Report Q3 2008 - www.companiesandmarkets.com adds new report.

Competition among mobile operators is intensifying. A number of new entrants to the sector have been jostling for greater market share against the larger established mobile operators, through aggressive advertising campaigns detailing competitive advantages of lowest market prices, best call quality and cheapest deals. The number of mobile subscribers has certainly grown, reaching an estimated 97.4mn at the end of 2007 and above BMI’s original estimate. [more, PR-Inside]

Victory for Qtel on Indosat stake

QTEL will be able to keep its 40.8% controlling stake in Indonesia’s Indosat.
This follows the Indonesian Supreme Court ruling that the legal challenge before it in respect of Qtel’s ownership in Indosat has ended.

Qtel chairman Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohamed bin Saud al-Thani welcomed the court decision.
“Our controlling stake in Indosat is a key part of our group expansion plans and we are pleased that the Supreme Court’s decision removes the District Court’s order, and allows us to keep the shares we had acquired in June,” he said. [more, gulf times]

Indonesian high court says Temasek appeal rejected

JAKARTA (AFP) — Indonesia's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal filed by Singapore's state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings over a ruling that it breached anti-monopoly laws, the court spokesman said Friday.

"Yes, it's true," Djoko Sarwoko, one of the judges who heard the case, told AFP, confirming the ruling. [more, AFP]

News focus: Temasek loses legal battle in RI`s supreme court

Jakarta, (ANTARA News) - After a legal battle for about five months, Singapore`s state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd has to accept an unfavorable decision by the Indonesian Supreme Court (MA).

The highest law enforcing body rejected Temasek`s legal review suit against a ruling by Indonesia`s Business Competition Commission (KPPU) that the Singapore company had violated the country`s monopoly and business competition law. [more, antaranews]

This Report Describes The Booming Indonesian Mobile Telephone Market

DUBLIN, Ireland, Sep 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Research and Markets ( http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9ae844/indonesia_mobile) has announced the addition of the "Indonesia - Mobile Communications - Market Overview" report to their offering.

Indonesia's mobile market has grown rapidly in recent years, with the number of subscribers heading for 120 million in 2008, up from 90 million in early 2008, having grown by nearly 40% in 2007. [more, marketwatch]