New telco regulator has busy agenda, while TV regulator is some wav off

摘要

Indonesia's new telecoms regulatory body, BRTI, established Dec. 19, has a tough agenda to plow through, but during its short existence it has already gotten the ball rolling on the long-delayed issue of fixed-line- tariff rebalancing. The big-picture plan for Indonesia is for the creation of a "duopoly" whereby Telkom and Indosat would both offer local-call, domestic-long-distance and IDD services. Several regulatory issues need to be sorted out, however, before the duopoly can come into being. The rebalancing of Telkom's fixed-line tariffs - its DLD call charges subsidize its local-call tariffs by 30% - is one step toward the government's goal of full liberalization. The parliament first signed off on tariff rebalancing three years ago, agreeing to a 15% weighted annual tariff increase, but the second tariff change, earmarked for 2002, was scrapped in January 2003 as the government met voter fury over fuel-and electricity-price hikes.