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]

Telecommunications industry wide open for development

Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - The telecommunications industry in Indonesia is still open to further development, both in terms of technology and public service."Many investors are still keenly interested in the development of the telecommunications industry in Indonesia, in view of its still low penetration and teledensity compared to these aspects in other countries, especialy in South East Asia," President Director of Smart Telecom, Sutikno Wijaya said here Friday. [more, antaranews]