Govt to call tender for Wimax in 4th quarter

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government plans to call a tender for the provision of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wimax) in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"The tender will be held in the fourth quarter of 2008. So far, the number of interested companies is quite large," Director General of Post and Telecommunications Basuki Yusuf Iskandar said on Monday.

He said the government was trying out Wimax technology in cooperation with the provider of the technology.

The tender would be conducted openly. But the government would first assess the preparedness of local products, including antenna, chipset, design and other infrastructure components categorized as five basic infrastructure components before conducting the tender, he said.

"We must look at Wimax in a comprehensive way. In this context, we control its resources so we can decide who can take part in the tender. What is important, (the winning bidder) is obliged to use local products," he said.

"After the try-out has been completed, we will make an evaluation to know how far is the interoperability of Wimax and the existing telecommuinication networks in Indonesia, including deciding its business model," he said.

In trying out the Wimax technology, the government adopted the technological standard of IEEE 802.16e, at the frequency spectrum of 2.3 GHz, he said.

"Many providers of Wimax instruments are taking part in the tryout. But we will conduct final assessment to ensure that the Wimax technology can be applied," he said. (*) end