Indosat sees US$1.2 bln 2008 capex; 6 mln new cellular

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia's second biggest telecom carrier PT Indosat said Thursday its capital expenditure for 2008 may remain at the 2007 level of 1.2 billion US dollars, the bulk of which will be spent on the expansion of its cellular service.

Indosat is planning to spend 80-85 percent of the amount on the expansion, which will involve building about 3,000 new base transceiver stations (BTS) next year in order to expand its service coverage outside Java as well as increase its local capacity.

Indosat is targeting to add 6 million new cellular subscribers to its existing subscriber base, estimated at 23-24 million by the end of this year, company president Johnny Swandi Sjam told a media briefing.

To partly finance the planned capex, Indosat may raise about 3-4 trillion rupiah from the market, said Wong Heang Tuck, Indosat finance director.

No delay seen from KPPU ruling

Swandi told reporters he does not expect the recent anti-competition ruling against major shareholder Temasek Holdings to cause any delays in Indosat's strategic plans going forward.

"We are still running our business as usual. The operational and development plans will go ahead as planned. So there is no strategic decision that should be delayed," he was quoted by Thomson Financial as saying.

Temasek's wholly owned unit ST Telemedia, along with Qatar Telecom, hold a combined 41.9 percent stake in Indosat via a 75-25 percent joint venture Asia Mobile Holdings Pte Ltd.

Indonsian anti-monoply watchdog, known as KPPU, has ruled that Temasek is guilty of violating Indonesian competition law by controlling the country's two largest cellular operators through its cross-ownership of Indosat and PT Telkomsel.

Telkomsel is Indonesia's biggest cellular carrier. It is 35 percent owned by Temasek's 56 percent-owned unit Singapore Telecommunications Ltd and 65 percent by PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia.