"I would not order nor prohibit. So long as it is for increasing the company`s performance and it is accountable please go ahead," he remarked.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan has given the nod to PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk. to acquire PT Indosat Tbk.`s fixed wireless access unit, StarOne, for a synergy with Telkom Flexi.

"So far it is good for the progress of the company and is accountable. There is no problem, so go ahead," he said at his office here on Tuesday.

Dahlan also said that his office allowed Telkom to carry out corporate actions aimed at spurring its organic growth.

"I would not order nor prohibit. So long as it is for increasing the company`s performance and it is accountable please go ahead," he remarked.

He added that the acquisition plan is part of corporate actions so he would refer it to the management. "We will not intervene," he said.

Before the end of 2011, Indosat`s President Director Harry Sasongko revealed that he had received names of companies interested in buying StarOne.

Indosat is still evaluating the plan with regard to regulatory aspects that would come with it, such as the license and assets in the business unit.

Until the end of 2011 StarOne had around 229,000 customers, down by 58.4 percent from 550,000 in 2010.

Telkom has been mentioned as one of the operators interested in acquiring StarOne.

The state-owned company is currently working on two options to develop Flexi involving Telkomsel, its subsidiary that operates cell phone services.

Telkom Flexi Executive General Manager Mas`ud Khamid said the first option is using one infrastructure with two different trademarks.

"This will be similar to the airline industry where one airline company may have two different brands that offer full service and no frills respectively," he said.

The second scenario is with one infrastructure and one trademark, he added.

"We continue studying the possibilities. The first or second option must be consulted with the other owner from Telkomsel, which is SingTel," Khamid noted.

In 2012, Flexi is prepared to spend around Rp400 billion to build mobile broadband based Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology in 20 cities till the end of June.

Flexi`s move needs limited natural resource support such as frequency.

The acquisition plan is believed to ease Flexi`s move to operate broadband mobile services. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012