PT Satelindo Palapa Indonesia

cancelled

In February 1993, PT Satelindo Palapa Indonesia (Satelindo) was granted two telecom licenses: one to operate a national and international GSM network and one for international direct telephone calls (IDDs). Satelindo was to own and operate Indonesia's Palapa C1 and C2 satellites and compete with incumbent operator Indosat in the IDD market. Under its license, Satelindo was prohibited from linking its satellites to the local fixed network and from providing domestic long distance services. For its GSM services, Satelindo was granted 10 MHz of the available GSM frequency bandwidth. Satelindo won the right to own and operate the mobile network and satellites without an open tender. Satelindo was originally created as a joint venture between PT Bimaghara Telekomindo (60%), majority state-owned PT Telkom (30%) and PT Indosat directly (10%). PT Bimaghara Telekomindo was a private company controlled by the Bimantara Citra Group, a private company headed by Mr Bambang Trihatmodjo, then-President Suharto's second son. In April 1995, the company sold a 25% stake to a subsidiary of Deutsche Telecom, DT Mobil, for for US$586 million, following a competitive highest price tender. The sale left Bimagraha holding 45%, PT Telkom 22.5% and PT Indosat 7.5%. In 1993, PT Satelindo was planning to install 1,800 international trunk lines, 350,000 GSM telephone lines, three satellites (Palapa C1 and C2 satellites with 62 transponders, and Palapa B satellite with 72 transponders), and 1,000 VSAT terminals. Alcatel of France won the contract to supply the GSM network in October of 1993 at a cost of US$250 million. In September of 1994, the company awarded Alcatel a contract for the second phase of the network installation at a cost of US$130 million. The new contract was to extend the coverage of Satelindo's network to an additional 18 cities and offer a capacity of 130,000 mobile subscribers. The GSM network started operations in November 1994. In May 1996, the company awarded Alcatel a third contract worth US$130 million to extend GSM coverage for Indonesia's key economic areas such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and Semarang. At the same time, it also awarded Siemens AG of Germany a contract to plan, supply and install switching systems and base stations to expand the network capacity by 80,000 subscribers under a US$65 million cellular equipment order due to be completed by the end of 1996. The company also reported that it had invested US$22.45 million for international telephone (IDD) services by mid-1996. The company closed financing of US$160 million in October 1996 for the launching and insurance of its C1 and C2 satellites. Some US$135 million of the loan was obtained from the US Export-Import Bank and US$25 million in the form of common commercial borrowings. The company's earlier commercial debts were repaid after its divestment to Deutsche Telekom. In 1999, the company invested US$170 million towards its prepaid card service. In 2001, Indosat, a national and international telecommunications provider in Indonesia, acquired from Telkom a direct 22.5% shareholding in Satelindo for US$186 million. It also purchased the 45% stake of Bimaghara Telekomindo in Satelindo, making it a 75% shareholder of the company and leaving Deutsche Telekom with a 25% shareholding. In May 2002, Indosat bought the remaining 25% stake of Deutsche Telekom in PT Satelindo Palapa Indonesia for US$325 million. Such transaction was part of Deutsche Telekom's effort to reduce its debt. So, by 2002, Satelindo merged with and became 100% owned by the then majority (65%) government-controlled Indosat. http://www.satelindo.co.id/profile/status.htm SATELINDO MAY GET $248M IN REVENUE. 341 words 13 June 1996 Jakarta Post He said that his company has invested $397.5 million in the satellite business, $490 million for cellular telecommunications networks and $22.45 million for international telephone services. (icn) 1997- Private telecommunications operator PT Satelindo plans to invest Rp 900 billion (about US$296.5 million) this year mainly to expand its global system for mobile communication (GSM) mobile cellular and satellite services. 2001- Telecommunication company PT Satelindo says it hopes to boost the number of its cellular phone subscribers to 1.6 million by the end of next year from an estimated 1.2 million by the end of this year. Consequently the company will build 450 more base transceiver stations (BTS) at a cost of Rp1.3 trillion (US$144.4 million)