Jakarta, Sept 9 (Antara) - The Indonesian Ombudsman will study the government's plan to reduce the mobile communication interconnection fee.
The plan is being questioned by the country's largest mobile telecommunication operator, Telkomsel, but other operators in the country are supporting it.
The Indonesian Ombudsman will convene a plenary meeting to look into the matter following a report by the Indonesian Forum for Transparency (Fitra) on the planned reduction in the interconnection fee, or off-net tariff.
"We will hold a plenary meeting to see and decide the crucial points with regard to the government's plan," Indonesian Ombudsman Chairman Alamsyah Saragih informed in Jakarta on Wednesday (Sept 7).
Alamsyah questioned whether the government, in this case, the Ministry of Informatics and Communication (Kemenkominfo), had discussed it with the relevant parties or other cellular operators before deciding to cut the off-net rates.
As of now, subscribers pay interconnection fees, or off-net rates, when they use their phones to connect with telecommunication networks outside of the operator they subscribe to.
The interconnection rate is currently set at an average of Rp250 per minute. Minister of Informatics and Telecommunication Rudiantara issued a circular letter on August 2, 2016, instructing all 10 mobile network operators in the country to reduce interconnection costs by an average of Rp66 percent.
According to the Jakarta Globe, the affected operators are Telekommunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) and its subsidiary Telekomunikasi Seluler (Telkomsel), Indosat, XL Axiata, Hutchison 3 Indonesia, Smartfren Telecom, Smart Telecom, Sampoerna Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Batam Bintan Telekomunikasi and Pasifik Satelit Nusantara.
However, the decision to cut the off-net rates beginning September 1, 2016, has been rejected by Telkomsel.
As the largest operator with the widest network coverage in the country, Telkomsel has a network which will provide connection if a customer makes interconnection calls in regions where other provider has no coverage.
The state-controlled operator, with 150 million subscribers, or about 44 percent of the mobile communication market share, was outraged after the government sought to lower interconnection fees among operators to cut telecommunication costs for customers.
Many private cellular phone operators, which do not have adequate networks in the regions or remote areas, have welcomed the minister's decision.
However, the government has postponed the implementation of the planned off-net tariff cuts.
Acting spokesman of Kemenkominfo, Noor Iza, stated earlier this month that the old interconnection tariff reference is still effective as the new tariff plan stands postponed. It was initially planned to become effective on September 1, as per the minister's circular letter.
Iza stressed that the old interconnection fee reference will continue to be used because not all of the operators have submitted their interconnection offer documents to the Kemenkominfo.
Earlier, the Kemenkominfo Circular Letter No. 1153/2016 called on all operators to lower the interconnection fee by an average of 26 percent effective as of September 1, 2016.
Legislator Yaqut Cholil Qoumas of Commission VI on industry of the House of Representatives (DPR) called on the government to pay attention to the principles of fairness and sound competition while deciding to raise the off-net rates.
The government's decision should not benefit only the private operators. After all, private operators are reluctant to build network in remote areas, mostly concentrating on urban ones.
State-owned Telekomsel, the subsidiary of PT Telkom, is the largest operator with network reaching various remote regions in the country.
Based on the results of a hearing between the operators and Commission I on communication affairs of the DPR, the data showed that cost recovery of Telkom/Telkomsel was Rp285 per minute. The cost recovery of other operators such as Indosat was Rp86 per minute, XL Rp65 per minute, Smartfren Rp100 per minute and Tri Rp120 per minute.
Thus, the Rp204 interconnection fee which the government plans to impose is below the current cost recovery level of Telkom/Telkosel.
Had there been no intervention from lawmakers, the instruction would have been implemented with effect from Sept. 1, forcing operators to reduce their interconnection tariff to Rp204 per minute on an average, from Rp250 per minute prevailing now.
On Monday, September 5, Apung Widadi, the advocate and investigation manager of Fitra, reported to the Indonesian Ombudsman the Kemenkominfo Circular Letter No. 1153/M.Kominfo/PL.0204/08/2016 on the lowering of the interconnection rate.
The Fitra is of the view that the policy has been adopted hastily. It said that the imposition of the planned interconnection tariff has the potential to cause losses to the state amounting to Rp51.6 trillion. It estimates that the losses would come from the income tax, value added tax and non-tax state revenues in the 2017-2021.
Therefore, after receiving and studying the report from the Fitra, the Indonesian Ombudsman may not rule out the possibility of convening the Ministry of Informatics and Communication to seek explanations regarding its policy to raise the telecommunication off-net rates, according to Ombudsman Chairman Alamsyah Saragih.
The Kemenkominfo has decided to indefinitely postpone the implementation of its circular on reducing the interconnection rate.***3*** (A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 10-09-2016 00:30: |
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