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]

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]

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]

Mobile-8's CCR cut to 'B-', placed on negative watch on weak Q1 results - S&P

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it cut PT Mobile-8 Telecom Tbk.'s corporate credit rating to 'B-' from 'B' and placed it on negative watch, following the Indonesian telecom operator's first quarter results, which were substantially below expectations. [more, forbes]

CORRECTION Indonesia's Mobile-8 Telecom outlook cut to negative - S&P

MUMBAI, Mar. 19, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- (Correcting agency name in headline of story transmitted earlier today)
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services revised the outlook on Indonesia's wireless operator PT Mobile-8 Telecom Tbk (OOTC:PTMBF) to negative from stable and affirmed the 'B' long-term corporate credit rating on the company. [more, CNNMoney]

Indonesian CDMA Operator Passes 3 Million Subscriber Mark

Indonesian CDMA operator Mobile-8 Telekom has ended 2007 with just over 3m customers, as the number of connections rose by 65% year on year. Mobile-8 launched just over four years ago in December 2003 and has since built a market share of just over 3% in Indonesia, where it competes with three giant operators in the shape of Telkomsel, Satelindo and Excelcomindo, as well as new entrant Hutch and two minor players. [more, cellular-news]

Indonesia's Mobile-8 under review for possible downgrade - Moody's

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Moody's Investors Service said it has placed its 'B2' corporate family and senior unsecured bond ratings of Indonesia's fourth-largest cellular operator, PT Mobile-8 Telecom Tbk, under review for possible downgrade. [more, hemscott]

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]

Mobile-8 Launches b-Live, Marks First Launch of BREW Services in Indonesia

PT Mobile-8 Telecom Tbk has announced the launch of wireless data services based on Qualcomm's (News - Alert) BREW solution with their product, b-Live. Mobile-8 Telecom is the first CDMA-based Indonesian cellular operator with full mobility services, commonly known for its brand product FREN. Initially, b-Live will be available on entry level handsets including Mobile-8's bundling handsets, Fren-ZTE (News - Alert) C 300 and Fren-ZTE C 330. [more, tmcnet]

Mobile-8 to Expand into Four More Provinces in Indonesia

Mobile-8 Telecom Tbk, a fast growing telecommunications company and the only CDMA-based mobile operator in Indonesia, is reportedly expanding its network into the major cities of four provinces: West Sumatra, Riau, Lampung and North Sulawesi. With the Indonesian telecom market growing exponentially in the past few years, Mobile-8 has seen growing demand for its services and solutions. As the market heats up, Mobile-8 is set to bring a world-class telecom experience to its subscribers. [more, tmcnet]

Global Mediacom acquires 62.63 million Mobile-8 shares

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Publicly-listed investment company PT Global Mediacom, formerly PT Bimantara Citra, has acquired 62,693,500 shares of telecommunication firm PT Mobile-8 Telecom, a Global Mediacom director said."The transaction was carried out on September 5-14. Each share was sold at Rp289," Hary Tanoesoedibjo told the Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam)-(Financial Institution) here Friday. [more, antaranews]

Indonesia's Mobile-8 ratings affirmed after completion of bond issue - Moody's

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Moody's Investors Service affirmed the 'B2' corporate family rating of PT Mobile-8 Telecom Tbk, Indonesia's fourth-largest cellular operator.
At the same time, Moody's (nyse: MCO - news - people ) affirmed the 'B2' rating for the 100 mln usd senior unsecured 11.25 pct bond due 2013 issued by Mobile-8 Telecom Finance Company BV and guaranteed by Mobile-8 after the completion of the bond issuance. [more, forbes]

Indonesia`s Mobile-8 sells $100 mln bonds to finance 2008 capex, debt

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia's fourth largest mobile telephone operator PT Mobile-8 Telecom said Tuesday its unit Mobile-8 Finance BV has sold bonds worth 100 million US dollars.Mobile-8 president Hidadjat Tjandradadja told Thomson Financial that Mobile-8 will guarantee the bonds and will use the proceeds to finance its 2008 capex and refinance old debt. [more, antaranews]

Indonesia Telekom plans broadband focus as cellular competition hots up

Telekom Indonesia is retreating from its exposure to Indonesia’s highly competitive wireless market and is to invest more in promoting fixed broadband services. There are now 10 cellular operators in Indonesia and Telkomsel’s ARPU has declined by eight per cent so far this year. [more, telecomtv]

Indonesia Mobile-8 prices $100 mln high-yield bond

LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Indonesian mobile phone operator PT Mobile-8 Telecom (FREN.JK: Quote, Profile , Research) priced a smaller-than-expected $100 million high-yield bond on Wednesday as improving credit market conditions allowed a number of borrowers to issue. [more, reuters]

Indonesia's Mobile-8 says may defer dlr bond issue

JAKARTA, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Indonesian mobile phone operator, PT Mobile-8 Telecom, said on Monday it would decide this week whether to proceed with a planned $150 million bond issue given recent market volatility. [more, reuters]

Mobile-8 assigned 'B2' corporate family rating with stable outlook - Moody's

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Moody's Investors Service has assigned a 'B2' corporate family rating with a stable outlook to Mobile-8 Telecom Tbk, reflecting the company's market position as the fourth largest mobile cellular operator in Indonesia. [more, abcmoney]

Mobile-8 seeks greater market share, expands network coverage

Cellular operator PT Mobile-8 Telecom has gone nationwide to take on its competitors in Indonesia's growing mobile phone market, rolling out its "Fren" brand service outside Java in Medan, Makassar and Denpasar. The company expects the expansion of its CDMA-based network coverage to the capital cities of North Sumatra, South Sulawesi and Bali will contribute up to one million of four million new subscribers it is aiming to sign up this year, the company's head of corporate affairs, Merza Fachys, said at the opening of the company's new office in Medan on Saturday. [more, thejakartapost]

Mobile-8 merges subsidiaries to boost efficiency

The country's fourth largest CDMA-based cellular operator, Mobile-8 Telecom, has completed the merger of three of its subsidiaries, PT Komunikasi Selular Indonesia (Komselindo), PT Metro Selular Nusantara (Metrosel) and PT Telekomindo Selular Raya (Telesera), to reduce operating costs. [more, thejakartapost]