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]

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]

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]

Muslim cellphone keeps the faith

Indonesian Muslims struggling to balance work with the holy fasting month of Ramadan are relying on special cellphones to help them keep the faith.

Islamic gadgets are especially popular in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, during Ramadan, when religious fervour is high and devout Muslims abstain from food, drink, profanities and sexual activities from dawn-to-dusk. [more, thewindsorstar]

Indonesian shares end morning higher; coal miners lead gains on oil price rise

... Indonesian CDMA-based cellular operator PT Mobile-8 Telecom rose on market speculation that the company has been a target of acquisition by a number of telecom companies, including PT Bakrie Telecom. {more, forbes]

Grameen Foundation, Bakrie Telecom and Qualcomm Join Efforts to Enable Affordable Telecommunications Access to Rural Indonesia

NUSA DUA, Bali, July 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Grameen Foundation,
Bakrie Telecom and Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) through its Wireless
Reach(TM) initiative, today announced the launch of the first Village Phone
Program in Indonesia, branded as Uber ESIA, using 3G CDMA technology to
provide affordable wireless telecommunications services for rural communities.
The launch was held at the Asia-Pacific Regional Microcredit Summit held in
Bali, Indonesia. [more, earthtimes]

2008 Asia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Indonesia and Timor Leste Provides a Comprehensive Overview of the Trends and Developments in These Mark

DUBLIN, Ireland-(Business Wire)-July 23, 2008 - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/5047cd/2008_asia_teleco) has announced the addition of the "2008 Asia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Indonesia and Timor Leste" report to their offering. [more, digital50.com]

Indonesian telecoms mull price-fixing appeal

JAKARTA (AFP) — Indonesian telecom firms were mulling appeals Thursday after the competition watchdog found them guilty of price fixing and raking in hundreds of millions of dollars from illegal text message charges.

The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) found six telecommunications companies guilty of collusion and slapped five of them with fines worth some 10 million dollars. [more, afp]

SMS cartel practices cause Rp2.827 tln in losses to consumers

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) said short message service (SMS) cartel practices in the country had caused consumers to suffer a loss of Rp2.827 trillion during the 2004 - April 2008 period.

The KPPU made the statement in its decision on Wednesday over the results of its studies about alleged SMS cartel practices by six cellular phone operators, namely PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk (XL), PT Telkomsel, PT Telkom, PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk, PT Mobile-8 Telecom Tbk and PT Smart Telecom. [more, antaranews]

Indonesia - Telecom Country Profile is an Exclusive Report Providing You with an Analysis of the Country’s Competitive Environment

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c87523) has announced the addition of Indonesia - Telecom Country Profile to their offering.

This 36-page report will give you a complete snap-shot of Indonesia's telecom environment, providing you with all the information you need to be successful in this market. [more, businesswire]

Bakrie Telecom chalks up 98 pct increase in net profit

Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The net profit of publicly traded telecommunications company PT Bakrie Telecom (JSX:BTEL) shot up 98.5 per cent to Rp144.27 billion (US$16 million) last year, from only Rp72.68 billion in the previous year. [more, antaranews]

Bakrie Telecom set to attract 7 mln Esia subscribers

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Publicly-listed telecommunication operator PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk has set itself the target of enticing 7 million subscribers to its Esia fixed wireless services this year compared to 3.8 million last year.

"We have set ourselves the target of enticing 7 million subscribers and will build 1000 base transceiver stations (BTS) in 2008," the company`s finance director, Jastiro Abi, said following the signing of a cooperation agreement with Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) here Wednesday. [more, antaranews]

Mobile-8 to Replace President, Executives, People Say

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- PT Mobile-8 Telecom, Indonesia's worst-performing telecommunications stock, will replace its president and two executives next month after failing to meet subscriber targets, two people familiar with the plan said.

Wityasmoro Sih Handayanto, head of parent PT Global Mediacom's information-technology division, will succeed Hidajat Tjandradjaja as president at the annual meeting, said the people, who asked not to be identified before an official announcement. Merza Fachys, Mobile-8's director in charge of corporate affairs, declined to confirm or deny the changes. [more, bloomberg]

Fitch Comments on Indonesia's Third IDD Licence Award

Fitch Ratings says that the recent award of a third international direct dialing (IDD) licence to fixed-wireless operator PT Bakrie Telecom (Bakrie) carries neutral implications for existing IDD operators PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) and PT Indosat Tbk (Indosat) over the near to medium term. At the same time, Fitch notes that the outcome of the licensing was somewhat unexpected, with Bakrie emerging successful over larger rival PT Excelcomindo Pratama (XL). New mobile entrant PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler was also unsuccessful in its bid. [more, cellular-news]

18-09-007: Indonesia's Bakrie wins IDD licence from government

JAKARTA: Indonesian mobile phone operator PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk has won a licence to enter the long distance call market, beating its larger rival, PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk, a government official said late on Sept 17.
Bakrie Telecom, controlled by the family of Chief Social Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie, has been an aggressive player in the fixed wireless market since 2003, and has been seeking to expand its reach in the overall telecoms market. [more, theedgedaily]

UPDATE: Bakrie Telecom Gets International Call License - Official

JAKARTA -(Dow Jones)- The Indonesian government has awarded cellular call operator PT Bakrie Telecom (BTEL.JK) a license to operate international fixed- line call services, a senior government official told reporters Monday.
"We awarded the license to Bakrie Telecom as the company meets all the requirement to operate the services," Director General of Post and Telecommunication Basuki Yusuf Iskandar told reporters. [more, cnnmoney]

UPDATE: Bakrie Telecom Gets International Call License - Official

JAKARTA -(Dow Jones)- The Indonesian government has awarded cellular call operator PT Bakrie Telecom (BTEL.JK) a license to operate international fixed- line call services, a senior government official told reporters Monday. [more, cnnmoney]