Siemens Gets EUR70 Million Mobile Technology Order

FRANKFURT -(Dow Jones)- The communications unit of German technology company Siemens AG (SI) has received a EUR70 million order to expand the network capacity of Indonesian mobile operator Telkomsel.

In the coming four months, the Siemens Communications Group, or Com, will supply Telkomsel with products and systems for its mobile switching network.

The mobile arm of Com has a market share of more than 30% in Indonesia, making it the largest network supplier.

The technology supplied by Siemens will increase the network capacity of the Indonesian operator and, at the same time, pave the way for UMTS operation after the issuing of 3G licenses expected early in 2006.

Telkomsel's President Director Kiskenda Suriahardja said the investment was necessary due to growing subscriber numbers.

"Our subscriber group, which is spread out over thousands of islands, has more than doubled over the last 18 months," he said.

The partnership between Telkomsel and Siemens goes back 10 years.

Both partners made the first GSM call together on Indonesian soil and introduced the first Intelligent Network prepaid service.

At the end of 2003, Siemens presented a fully-functional 3G network as a pilot installation in Jakarta.

With a market share of 56% and close to 24 million customers, Telkomsel is Indonesia's largest mobile operator.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 20th October 2005