Structural tests ordered after fatal Lagos building collapse

Yahoo – AFP, Chris Stein, 17 Sep 2014

A caterpillar tries to excavate rubble of the collapsed building in search of missing

 persons at the Ikotun headquarters of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos

on September 17, 2014 (AFP Photo/Pius Utomi Ekpei)

Lagos (AFP) - Engineers in Nigeria's financial capital, Lagos, on Wednesday ordered urgent structural tests to be carried out at a popular preacher's church after 70 people were killed in a building collapse.

The Lagos State Building Control Agency daubed red X-marks on buildings in the sprawling compound of televangelist TB Joshua's Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in the city's Ikotun area.

Rescue workers clear the debris of a 

collapsed guesthouse of the Synagogue 

Church of All Nations at Ikotun in Lagos 

on September 17, 2014 (AFP Photo/Pius

Utomi Ekpei)

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday said 67 of his compatriots were killed when a guesthouse for Joshua's foreign followers collapsed at the site last Friday.

But rescuers said the death toll had since risen, as a hunt for survivors neared a close.

"We have to ask for the tests because of what has happened," LASBCA general manager Abimbola Animashaun told AFP at the scene, pointing to one building which had an extra three storeys added.

"This one has been overloaded," she said. "If a disaster can happen here, we don't want it to happen elsewhere."

The structural integrity inspections should take 10 days to complete before a report is submitted, she added.

According to Joshua's website, scoan.org, three of the church's previous buildings were destroyed before the new church -- described as an "architectural masterpiece" -- was built.

"There was only one architect involved in the planning -- the Holy Spirit," he said.

The preacher, known to his followers as "The Prophet" because of his purported visions and miracles, has not publicly commented on the deaths.

Instead he has tried to shift suspicion on to Boko Haram militants and a low-flying plane seen over the building before the collapse.

Since Friday, he has only posted a series of Bible verses on his Facebook page and Twitter account. On Tuesday night he tweeted: "Hard times may test me, they cannot destroy me."

Nigerian red cross workers gather at the scene of the collapsed church guesthouse

 of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in the Ikotun neighborhood in Lagos

on September 17, 2014 (AFP Photo/Pius Utomi Ekpei)

The investigation will look at Joshua's claim of low-flying aircraft, Lagos state commissioner for town planning and urban development Toyin Ayinde told Nigeria's Channels television.

Initial indications were that the building came down because extra floors were being added without strengthening the foundations and samples would be taken from the site, he added.

Rescue effort

Rescue workers were meanwhile picking through what remained of the guesthouse using excavators and even their bare hands in the hope of finding more survivors.

The southwest coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ibrahim Farinloye, said the rescue operation was likely to end later on Wednesday.

"We have 70 dead, 131 rescued alive," he said. "Early this morning, we got two (bodies). Since day break we got three. Yesterday night we had two, making seven."

A woman was pulled alive from the building on Monday and escaped with minor injuries, fuelling hopes that others may yet be found alive.

"The challenges are coming much more, so we have to slow down our recovery," said Farinloye. "If we say we should rush or give time limits, definitely it would affect somebody or survivors."

Headquarters of the Synagogue Church of

 All Nations in the Ikotun neighborhood in 

Lagos on September 17, 2014 (AFP Photo/

Pius Utomi Ekpei)

There was a large police presence at the church and onlookers were moved away. A team from a Chinese engineering firm were seen on site helping rescuers.

The Lagos state government, NEMA and the South African authorities have all complained that Joshua, whose followers include top-level politicians and presidents, was not co-operating.

Rescuers were prevented from fully accessing the site until Sunday, raising fears that some of the victims could have been saved earlier.

Nigerians took to social media to voice their anger at the incident, arguing that Joshua should not be above the law.

Zuma said five South African church tour groups totalling about 300 people were thought to have been at the Pentecostal church at the time of the tragedy.

One South African travel agent, who asked not to be named, said some of the survivors flew back from Lagos on Sunday but were too distraught to recount their ordeal.

"It's a sensitive issue. They don't want to talk to anyone about what they saw. They are in shock, they are traumatised," he said.

Indosat extends sea cable system to Singapore

Antara News, Tuesday, November 17, 2009 21:17 WIB

PT Indosat. (ANTARA/Ardika)Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Telecommunication operator PT Indosat Tbk will spread the sea cable communication system or SKKL to connect Jakarta, Pontianak, Batam and Singapore which will be used for the internet-based protocol (IP) or non IP services.

PT Indosat president director Harry Sasongko after inaugurating two new telecommunication backbones here Tuesday, said that the marine cable system is 1,300 km long.

"With this additional marine cable systems, Indosat will have additional bandwidth capacity at the early stage of 80 Gbps which will be used for both IP-based services (Internet Protocol) and the non-IP," he said.

The SKKL installed by Indosat in cooperation with NEC has a four landing points on the islands of Tanjung Pakis (Karawang, West Java), Sungai Kakap (Pontianak, West Kalimantan), Tanjung Bemban (Batam), and Changi (Singapore).

"The fiber-optic network will be able to anticipate the possibility of the very large demand until the Gbps (Giga bits per second)," he said.

In addition, the network is expected to serve as a redundant or back up for the existing international network.

"All cable systems FO or fiber optic Indosat has used ring system or redundant, so if there is a break in the cable, it will be immediately backed up by another network," he said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian ambassador to Singapore, Ali Wardana said, at least 158 thousand Indonesian people live in Singapore so that the existence of the SKKL has a potential to increase relations between the two countries.

Ministry to connect 53,000 villages with Internet next year

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 09/08/2009 10:47 PM

The Information and Communication Ministry has aimed to connect the remaining 53,528 villages across the country with Internet next year.

"All villages should have Internet connections by 2010 at the latest," minister Muhammad Nuh said on Tuesday.

Of the total 72,000 villages in the country, only about 19,000 were connected to Internet so far, kompas.com reported.

The ministry has also planned to build 30 TV transmitters in border areas.

Govt to announce cuts in Internet rates

Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - Informatics and Communications Minister Muhammad Nuh said his ministry was still discussing the government's plan to cut Internet rates expected to be announced next month. 

The minister made the remarks after signing the plaque of a Muhammadiyah Entrepreneur Islamic Boarding school building here on Saturday. 

"I have made public sometime in the past that the government would issue a policy on the Internet tariff cuts. But it is now still under discussion. We hope that the cuts would be announced in April," the minister said. 

He said it could be noticed the Internet rates had been going down from year to year but the government wanted a bigger cut so that the people could have wider access to the Internet. 

"I could not yet assure the percentage of the the cuts. But for sure, we are now studying it by analyzing the Internet cost structure," he said. 

He said that the government had the responsibility to lower Internet tariffs but policies on the services were in the hands of the Internet service providers (ISP) and network providers. 

"We have to sit together to discuss what could be lowered so the Internet rates would be within the financial reach of the people," Nuh said.

1st iPhone 3G sale on March 20

The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Sat, 03/14/2009 1:09 PM  

PT Telkomsel, the country’s largest cellular operator, is slated to sell the country’s first iPhone 3G mobile handset on March 20 at the Pacific Place shopping center in Jakarta. 

In its statement late on Thursday, the company said the handset would be available also at GraPARI outlets with a price starting at Rp 2.62 million (US$188)

“iPhone 3G will redefine our consumers’ mobile phone experience,” said Telkomsel president director Sarwoto Atmosutarno.

iPhone 3G combines three products in one -- a mobile phone, widescreen iPod and internet device. It also includes fast 3G networking, GPS mapping and support for enterprise features including Microsoft Exchange.

iPhone 3G is available in over 70 countries worldwide.

In its statement, Telkomsel also said it would invest $1.5 billion this year to expand its 3G network.

Telkomsel was the first operator in Indonesia to launch 3G services in September 2006, and had the biggest 3G community with more than 9.2 million subscribers in  more than 140 cities.

Telkomsel has 69 million subscribers or more than 50 percent of the market share.

Telkomsel is 65 percent owned by state-run PT Telkom, the country’s largest telecommunications company. The remaining 35 percent is owned by Singapore Telecom Mobile Pte Ltd.

Facilities embedded in iPhone 3G have put the gadget in competition with Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and Nokia’s smart phones, which are designed for business users.

The arrival of the iPhone is likely to heat up competition among mobile operators tapping cash-rich business clients, who account for a smaller proportion of the market’s customer base.

Indonesia’s cellular operators primarily target the market of middle to lower-income users, which accounts for an average of more than 70 percent of the customer base for cellular providers.

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City to seize BTS antennae from illegally built towers

Triwik Kurniasari, The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Fri, 03/06/2009 10:29 AM

The city will take down and seize antennae from illegally erected base transceiver station (BTS) towers as it seeks to cut back on tower numbers.

Hari Sasongko, head of the property control and building monitoring (P2B) agency, said Thursday this was far cheaper more reasonable than dismantling the towers.

“It costs about Rp 5 million to Rp 7.5 million to dismantle a tower. That’s very expensive. So we chose to disable the towers by seizing the antennae,” he said.

“We have allocated funds of Rp 1 billion to for this operation.”

Since 2007, the P2B has dismantled 85 illegally built towers.

Officials and critics say Jakarta has become a city of towers, with many towers built each year without the necessary permits, the agency reported.

Of 3,124 towers in the capital, 1,028 do not have building permits, according to P2B data.

Hari admitted lack of monitoring was the main reason for the mushrooming of BTS towers.

“It’s hard for us to control tower developments, due to human resource constraints,” he said.

“We used to have only one team to arrange building permits and control the towers. Now we have two different teams handling the two responsibilities. There will be building inspectors to check the towers. We will no longer tolerate tower owners who breach regulations.”

He added his office was in discussions with the city’s spatial planning agency to determine which areas were appropriate for setting up BTS towers.

Spatial planning agency head Wiriyatmoko said he hoped cell phone operators would share towers to cut back on tower numbers.

“Three operators or more can share a tower. Ideally, this city needs no more than 700 towers,” he said.

Gunawan Tjahjono, a professor of architecture from the University of Indonesia, previously said shared towers could help ease the “visual” and space pollution problems.

Merza Fachys, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Cellular Telecommunications, said one reason why BTS towers were mushrooming was because they needed high positions.

But he pointed out that a BTS did not necessarily require a tower.

“We can put BTS on the roofs of tall buildings,” he said.

In addition to visual pollution, the sprouting of towers and BTS has also sparked protests from local residents.

In early February, residents of Lagoa in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, raised concerns that a BTS tower on Jl. Mengkudu posed health risks through radiation.

Wiriyatmoko said the administration was still developing a fiber optic network aimed at reducing the number of BTS.

He added the network would be more cost effective for BTS owners because the equipment could be attached to existing buildings, street lamps or pedestrian bridges, and would not require tall towers.

The network is also expected to be able to improve Internet connections for high schools.

Telkom Sets Aside Rp1 Trillion for Investment

Friday, 13 February, 2009 | 16:30 WIB 

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (Telkom) is setting aside Rp1 trillion in investments to develop cable telephone networks. These networks will be used to support the Internet-based television service (IPTV) which will be launched this year. The launch was initially scheduled to take place last year. 

Telkom CEO Rinaldi Firmansyah said the Rp1 trillion allocation did not include the service content development, which would cost US$ 10-15 million. This fund was part of the company’s 2009 budget amounting to US$ 2,5 billion. 

According to Rinaldi, IPTV uses a cable network as its conductor. The service will be launched in six big cities, including Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya. The company’s target is to have IPTV absorb 20 percent of the current cable telephone customers, reaching 8,7 million people. 

ant | arif

Pay TV operators feeling good for 2009 despite adverse global economic conditions

The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Fri, 01/30/2009 11:44 AM 

 

Pay TV operators are confident they can increase their subscribers by between 65 to 70 percent this year to push total users to over 1 million, regardless of the global financial crisis, an industry player say.

 

The optimism comes from the fact that only about 7 percent of  the potential market has been penetrated, according to pay TV subscriber operator Indovision corporate secretary Arya Mahendra Sinulingga.

“The potential market for the industry is around 10 million users, while only 700,000 of them have subscribed to pay TV. It shows that there is still a lot of market share to fight for,” Arya  said.

With the prospect of increasing the number of subscribers by 65 percent, there would be at least 1.1 million subscribers that could  be registered by the end of 2009.

 

With an average fees of Rp 140,000 (US$14) per subscribers per month, the total revenue projected is around Rp 1.87 trillion.

However, the projected number of official subscribers is still smaller than those subscribing to “illegal operators.”

According to Arya, illegal operators usually subscribe to one of the pay TV industry official operator services and then re-distribute the broadcast content for cheaper fees using illegal connection wires and analog signals.

“Based on our investigations, there are around one million subscribers to illegal operators, and they are clearly visible with their cable connections on their roof-tops,”

“There are government regulations for these violations, but in practice, the authorities have yet to make enough efforts to punish the illegal operators,” he added.

Sinulinga said that another challenge the industry would face during the coming year would be the unclear anti-monopoly broadcasting regulations.

The industry saw similar  growth in subscribers from 2007 to 2008, growing from 450,000 subscribers to 700,000 in one year.

This growth was the largest in the Asian pay TV industry scene, according to the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA).

Six major companies — Indovision, First Media, IM2, Aura, Telkom Vision and Oke Vision — are participating in the country’s pay TV industry, with Indovision having the largest market share of around 480,000 subscribers (68 percent).  (hdt)

Fujitsu and NSW win order for Indonesian optic-fiber network

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Fujitsu Limited announced that it and partner Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke GmbH (NSW) of Germany have won a turnkey contract from PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (PT Telkom) worth more than US$100 million to install a submarine optic-fiber cable system for the Indonesian islands Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java, Bali and Lombok. 

The "JaKa2LaDeMa" ring will provide the first direct, high-bandwidth optic-fiber submarine cable system for these Indonesian islands, and is scheduled to be completed in the January-March quarter of 2010, Fujitsu said in press release by Fujitsu Indonesia today. 

JaKa2LaDeMa will deliver the capacity to provide upgradeable transmission facilities that support Internet, e-commerce, video, data and voice services. 

Fujitsu will provide state-of-the-art terminal equipment, repeaters, branching units system integration and associated services for this project. The repeaters will be integrated into the repeatered cables provided by NSW, which will also provide such services as surveying, marine installation and civil works. 

"Fujitsu is extremely pleased to make a significant contribution to the construction of network infrastructure in Indonesia, which is one of the fastest growing markets in the world," commented Gensei Katano, Group vice president of Photonic Systems Group, Submarine Networks at Fujitsu. 

"This win is attributable to our robust network portfolio as well as our strong commitment to Indonesia. We will continue to work closely with NSW for the successful delivery of state-of-the-art submarine cable system to PT Telkom." 

"We are very proud that PT Telkom has awarded us this project," said Rudolf Stahl, managing director at NSW. 

Fujitsu's optical submarine repeater is the most technologically advanced and reliable repeater in the industry. In 40 years of submarine cable experience, Fujitsu has installed more than 2,500 repeaters throughout the world while maintaining a zero-malfunction rate. 

NSW, a worldwide leading manufacturer in the submarine telecom and power cables industry, will be using its MINISUB repeatered and unrepeatered cable, which with its compact and robust design, will provide excellent performance, cable handling, laying and recovery characteristics. 

In accordance with the customer requirements, the cable will be delivered in the versions lightweight, lightweight-protected, single-armored and double-armored.

Indonesia to implement Wimax broadband in 2009

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 12/28/2008 6:59 PM  

Indonesia will implement Wimax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) broadband technology next year to improve access to the Internet across the country, an official said Sunday. 

Engkos Koswara, an expert adviser to the state minister for research and technology, told Antara news agency the government was still testing the 2.3 GHz frequency for the Wimax technology. 

"We hope that by next year, Wimax technology will be implemented," he said in Medan, North Sumatra, adding the government would encourage the use of domestic products to support the technology. 

Indonesia ranks very low in the region in the use of broadband for Internet access. 

Engkos was in Medan to attend the promotion of IGOS (Indonesia Goes Open Source) and the launching of IGOS for North Sumatra (IGOS Sumut).

IGOS, launched in 2004, was launched to promote the use of open source software throughout the country. 

Internet capacity down to 10%

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta , Sat, 03/01/2008 3:26 AM

The internet traffic capacity of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) was down to 10 percent on Friday as undersea fiber optic connections to Singapore, which connect the country to the rest of the world, failed to function.

Despite being the main provider for internet traffic connection, however, Telkom said its fiber optic failure did not completely cut internet services.

"We are still trying to identify what caused the connection failure," Telkom spokesperson Edy Kurnia told The Jakarta Post.

"We have sent a ship and a crew directly from Singapore to investigate."

Edy said traffic capacity would be back to speed on Saturday after the Jakarta-Singapore connection was re-routed.

He said the re-route would use an alternative fiber optic connection, a satellite connection and digital radio transmissions.

The connection failure to Singapore happened amid already-disrupted Jakarta-Palembang fiber optic connections, which started Wednesday due to toll road construction in Palembang.

A re-routing of traffic would be temporary, Edy said.

The last time Indonesia's internet connection with the rest of the world was lost was in December 2006 when an earthquake off Taiwan measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale damaged undersea cables.

The damaged cables not only disrupted internet connections, but also telephone services across Asia after connections to main servers in the U.S. were severed.

Heru Sutadi, a member of the Indonesia Telecommunication Regulatory Body, said the undersea connection could have been disrupted by an earthquake or a failure of electronic machinery.

"It could be due to decaying machines or cables," he said.

Some of the fiber optics used for the Jakarta-Singapore connections were from the 1990s.

Heru said new companies as well as Telkom, PT Indosat and Excelcomindo were planning to invest in fiber optic connections, which would provide more alternatives for internet traffic and telephone connections.

Indonesian Internet Providers Association chairwoman Sylvia Sumarlin said a slowdown in connection speed was felt throughout the city but that no terminations occurred.

"Telecommunication operators and internet providers have learned from past experiences that they cannot rely solely on one route," she said.

"That is why when Telkom's connection is out, the backup connections automatically activate."

To further secure connectivity to other internet hubs other than Singapore the development of the so called Palapa Ring Project must be accelerated.

The Palapa Ring is an ambitious project which aims to link Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua and eight existing network connections or backhauls through an estimated total 35,280 kilometers undersea and 21,870 kilometers of underground fiber-optic cable.

Super-speed Internet satellite blasts off in Japan

(CNN) -- Japan launched a rocket Saturday carrying a satellite that will test new technology that promises to deliver "super high-speed Internet" service to homes and businesses around the world.

A rocket carrying a super-fast Internet satellite lifts off from its launch pad on the Japanese island of Tanagashima.

The rocket carrying the WINDS satellite -- a joint project of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries -- lifted off its pad at 5:55 p.m. (0855 GMT).

If the technology proves successful, subscribers with small dishes will connect to the internet at speeds many times faster than what is now available over residential cable or DSL services.

The Associated Press said the satellite would offer speeds of up to 1.2 gigabytes per second.

The service initially would focus on the Asia-Pacific region close to Japan, a JAXA news release said.

"Among other uses, this will make possible great advances in telemedicine, which will bring high-quality medical treatment to remote areas, and in distance education, connecting students and teachers separated by great distances," JAXA said.

The rocket was launched from Japan's Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Center.

CIA Says Hackers Have Cut Power Grid

Several cities outside the U.S. have sustained attacks on utility systems and extortion demands.

Robert McMillan, IDG News Service

PCWorld, Saturday, January 19, 2008 6:00 AM PST

Criminals have been able to hack into computer systems via the Internet and cut power to several cities, a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency analyst said this week.

Speaking at a conference of security professionals on Wednesday, CIA analyst Tom Donahue disclosed the recently declassified attacks while offering few specifics on what actually went wrong.

Criminals have launched online attacks that disrupted power equipment in several regions outside of the U.S., he said, without identifying the countries affected. The goal of the attacks was extortion, he said.

"We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands," he said in a statement posted to the Web on Friday by the conference's organizers, the SANS Institute. "In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet."

"According to Mr. Donahue, the CIA actively and thoroughly considered the benefits and risks of making this information public, and came down on the side of disclosure," SANS said in the statement.

One conference attendee said the disclosure came as news to many of the government and industry security professionals in attendance. "It appeared that there were a lot of people who didn't know this already," said the attendee, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak with the press.

He confirmed SANS' report of the talk. "There were apparently a couple of incidents where extortionists cut off power to several cities using some sort of attack on the power grid, and it does not appear to be a physical attack," he said.

Hacking the power grid made front-page headlines in September when CNN aired a video showing an Idaho National Laboratory demonstration of a software attack on the computer system used to control a power generator. In the demonstration, the smoking generator was rendered inoperable.

The U.S. is taking steps to lock down the computers that manage its power systems, however.

On Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved new mandatory standards designed to improve cybersecurity.

CIA representatives could not be reached immediately for comment.

Related Article:

Sunspot Activity Expected To Disrupt GPS, Cell Phones, Power Grid

Sunspot is harbinger of the new solar cycle

Spaceflight Now, January 7, 2008

A new 11-year cycle of heightened solar activity, bringing with it increased risks for power grids, critical military, civilian and airline communications, GPS signals and even cell phones and ATM transactions, showed signs it was on its way last week when the cycle's first sunspot appeared in the sun's Northern Hemisphere, NOAA scientists said.

First official sunspot belonging to the new Solar Cycle 24. Credit: NOAA

"This sunspot is like the first robin of spring," said solar physicist Douglas Biesecker of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. "In this case, it's an early omen of solar storms that will gradually increase over the next few years."

A sunspot is an area of highly organized magnetic activity on the surface of the sun. The new 11-year cycle, called Solar Cycle 24, is expected to build gradually, with the number of sunspots and solar storms reaching a maximum by 2011 or 2012, though devastating storms can occur at any time.

During a solar storm, highly charged material ejected from the sun may head toward Earth, where it can bring down power grids, disrupt critical communications, and threaten astronauts with harmful radiation. Storms can also knock out commercial communications satellites and swamp Global Positioning System signals. Routine activities such as talking on a cell phone or getting money from an ATM machine could suddenly halt over a large part of the globe.

"Our growing dependence on highly sophisticated, space-based technologies means we are far more vulnerable to space weather today than in the past," said Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "NOAA's space weather monitoring and forecasts are critical for the nation's ability to function smoothly during solar disturbances."

Last April, in coordination with an international panel of solar experts, NOAA issued a forecast that Solar Cycle 24 would start in March 2008, plus or minus six months. The panel was evenly split between those predicting a strong or weak cycle. Both camps agree that the sooner the new cycle takes over the waning previous cycle, the more likely that it will be a strong season with many sunspots and major storms, said Biesecker. Many more sunspots with Solar Cycle 24 traits must emerge before scientists consider the new cycle dominant, with the potential for more frequent storms.

The new sunspot, identified as #10,981, is the latest visible spot to appear since NOAA began numbering them on January 5, 1972. Its high-latitude location at 27 degrees North, and its negative polarity leading to the right in the Northern Hemisphere are clear-cut signs of a new solar cycle, according to NOAA experts. The first active regions and sunspots of a new solar cycle can emerge at high latitudes while those from the previous cycle continue to form closer to the equator.

SWPC is the nation's first alert for solar activity and its affects on Earth. The center's space weather forecasters issue outlooks for the next 11-year solar "season" and warn of individual storms occurring on the sun that could impact Earth. SWPC is one of NOAA's nine National Centers for Environmental Prediction and is also the warning agency of the International Space Environment Service (ISES), a consortium of 11 member nations.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

Telco regulators need to keep up with changes

Andi Haswidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With its high population but low telephone penetration rate, Indonesia remains among the most lucrative telecommunications markets in the world.

However, the lack of clear regulations has created confusion among operators and the public. The controversial anti-monopoly ruling recently issued by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) indicated that there are some things wrong in the business.

The KPPU found Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings guilty of violating the anti-trust law by having ownership in two mobile phone operators, Telkomsel and Indosat, which jointly controlled more than 50 percent of the market.

The ruling also found the largest mobile phone operator, Telkomsel, guilty of abusing its dominant market position through a price-leadership arrangement involving Indosat that led to the excessive pricing of mobile communication services. The high prices cost consumers between Rp 14.7 trillion (about US$1.56 billion) and Rp 30.8 trillion between 2003 and 2006. The court told the company to lower tariffs by a minimum of 15 percent.

The ruling has yet to be tested in the courts, but appeals are on their way. The KPPU blamed the government in part, saying that the abuse of power would never have happened if the government had exercised its authority to safeguard competition.

The government's power in the telecommunications industry is two-sided. First, it is a market player through state-owned PT Telkom, which holds 65 percent of Telkomsel's shares, and through a golden share ownership in Indosat, which entitles it to veto power over all major decisions by the company. Second, it is a market regulator through the Communication and Information Ministry, the Directorate General for Post and Telecommunication and the Indonesian Telecommunication Regulatory Body (BRTI).

As a player, the government has been blamed for its inability to act in the interest of the public, generally by turning a blind eye to possible abuses of dominant power.

On the other hand, as a regulator, it has been known for adapting slowly to changes in the market, and often being trapped by its interest in the industry when implementing regulations.

Speaking as an analyst, Telkom's independent commissioner Arif Arryman recently raised his voice, urging the government to act faster so as to put the right policies and rules in place to prevent abuse of dominant market positions.

"The available policies and regulations have failed to keep pace with the development of services and equipment," Arif said.

For him, there is nothing wrong with companies such as Telkom having a dominant position as long as the government exercises tight control so as to avoid abuses. He said such control was currently lacking.

Also echoing Arif's concern, Indonesian Telecommunications Society (Mastel) chairman Mas Wigrantoro said that the government had made a mistake by failing to introduce a floor price for mobile phone services.

"A new player entering the industry usually seeks to grow its subscriber base by setting the lowest price possible, while ignoring the question of profitability. If minimum prices are not set, this could destabilize the industry," he said.

On the implementation front, the government has issued various warning letters to industry players this year, including to Telkom for the delay in opening its exclusive rights over long-distance calling to other players, especially Indosat, which has also entered into fixed telephone services.

Indosat received a warning for the late development of its fixed telephone network, but the government could not impose any sanctions due to a loose network development contract.

The government's weakness as a regulating body also shows in the fact that operators get away with misleading TV commercials, which, in some cases, offer cheap rates without making the terms and conditions clear.

The one piece of good news for the public this year was when the BRTI said last month that it would introduce a new set of rate formulas to cut the average cost of mobile telecommunication services by 20 to 30 percent as soon as Jan 1.

BRTI member Heru Sutadi explained that call rates here were the second highest in the Asia-Pacific region due to the variable interconnection cost for calls between operators. After considering the performance of the operators, he said, it was time to adjust rates.

Another noteworthy move by the government this year was the launch of a consortium for the ambitious Palapa Ring project in November that consists of seven companies: Telkom, Indosat, Excelcomindo Pratama, Bakrie Telecom, PT Powertek Utama Internusa, PT Infokom Elektrindo and PT Macca System Infocom.

The project, estimated to involve $300 million for the first of two implementation phases, aims to link the entire archipelago through a fiber optic network in order to bridge the digital divide in 40,000 villages that are yet connected to the country's telecommunication networks.

One setback in the effort to bridge the digital gap came when the Directorate General of Post and Telecommunication announced earlier this month that none of the tender participants for a Universal Service Obligation (USO) project surpassed the required criterion.

The USO projects, which mostly include the development of telephone networks in remote areas, are financed by funds raised from existing telecommunications operators' contributions.

The program was introduced at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held by the United Nations in 2003, which aimed to increase Information and Communication Technology (ICT) penetration by 50 percent globally by 2015.

The country's telecommunication sector has rapidly developed during the past several years with the entry of new operators in the highly competitive mobile phone market.

The government therefore needs to review existing policies keep up with the rapid changes in the industry.

Internet charges may drop by half in 4 years

Andi Haswidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The telecommunications regulatory body is preparing a number of policies in order to gradually lower Internet charges, currently among the highest in the world, by 50 percent within four years.

"Compared to other countries, our Internet connection charges are too high. We have studied what causes this, and have also responded through various policies and initiatives," Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Board (BRTI) spokesperson Heru Sutadi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

According to the latest figures from the International Telecommunications Union, Indonesia is 47th in the world in terms of lowest Internet tariffs, with the average charge in Indonesia being US$5.07 per 100 kilobytes per second on a direct connection to an Internet service provider, or what is also known as a leased line.

The is far more expensive than other countries in the region, such as Singapore, in 18th place on $1.59, Thailand, in 24th on $2.38, Malaysia, in 28th on $2.57, and Vietnam, in 40th on $3.69.

Meanwhile, the three cheapest countries are Japan in first place on $0.007, South Korea in second on 0.008 and Taiwan and China in joint third, both on $0.18 each.

Heru said that under the new Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure road map, the government hoped to reduce broadband charges by more than half to about $2.40 per 100 kilobytes per second by 2011.

The most significant step on the road to lower charges, he said, would be a review of the regulations on the determining of fixed-line charges.

"The existing price formula, which was introduced in 1998, is no longer suitable for current conditions. We will reevaluate this so as to produce connections that are approximately 40 percent cheaper," he said.

The reason behind the current high charges, he said, was the lack of competition for connection to the international backbone between dominant players such as PT Telkom and PT Indosat.

"The dominant players in the market were able to set pricing as they pleased. Now, we have issued licenses to new players so as to encourage more competition," he said.

Another step designed to expand the supply of network connections, he said, was the Palapa Ring project, which aimed to link the entire archipelago with a fiberoptic network that would serve as the national backbone not only for voice services but also for the Internet.

Earlier in November, BRTI reported that internet penetration in Indonesia amounted to only 9.1 percent of the total population, giving about 20 million active users, 70 percent of whom are located in Greater Jakarta. The country also had some 7,602 Internet kiosks.

The current cost of fiberoptics has declined from Rp 5 million (about $538) per two kilometers previously to Rp 3 million. That too will lower costs and help speed up network expansion," Heru said.

Aside from introducing new regulations and holding tenders for the development of the network, the government also plans to make a number of technical improvements next year, including better Internet protocol (IP) address and Internet exchange (IX) management, improved domain-name service administration, and migration from IP version 4 to IP version 6.

France donates center to manage natural disasters

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang

The French government on Tuesday donated a natural disaster crisis center to the West Sumatra provincial administration, Paul Delavenne of the French Embassy to Indonesia said.

Delavenne is civipol program director and he handed the center to the secretary of the West Sumatra provincial administration, Yohannes Dahlan.

It was the fourth batch of aid provided to Indonesia from France, with a total of 5.1 million Euro pledged since July, 2005.

France has also provided aid to the National Disaster Mitigation Coordination Board, Jakarta's provincial administration and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam provincial administration.

Delavenne said the aid could be used by the Indonesian government to develop its disaster management programs.

"We do hope we can help develop other regions in Indonesia as well," he Delavenne said.

He said his government selected Bakornas and the three provinces because these regions were seriously affected by natural disasters, especially tsunamis.

Delavenne's government has provided rescue equipment and disaster management training courses to Indonesian rescue teams.

"We are very happy the three regions have accepted and supported this program well," he said.

France has allocated Rp 7 billion to establish the crisis center in West Sumatra, which would be equipped with effective tools to support the administration in better managing disasters.

"The modern tools will be useless if they are not supported by skilled persons," Delavenne said.

"That's why we hope the government will choose the right men or a special board to operate them."

The crisis center uses a computerized system to provide accurate information on natural disasters. In case of a quake or tsunami, the system would remain operational because it uses multi-layered back-up system, Delavenne said.

Information is collected from the internet and a free-of-charge telephone link.

The computerized system has two back-up modes. The first back-up system uses a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) link, before a third and final system is relied on, which uses a satellite facility.

Yohannes Dahlan thanked the French government for the provision of funds and for the "modern and useful equipment for his region".

He said the administration would operate the facility as effectively as possible for the sake of all residents.

Yohannes also said he would establish an effective cooperation with related institutions, including local police and disaster management offices.

'Use satellite link for 50m Net users'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Information and technology experts said satellite high-speed broadband internet connection would provide a cheaper and more reliable service for up to 50 million potential national users.

"The use of wireless wimax and wifi services and cdma (data transfer system) to replace the more expensive GPRS (data transfer system with different technology) and the dial-up system was to decrease access costs," Armein Langi of the Bandung Institute of Technology told a discussion held by The Habibie Center Foundation here Thursday.

"Satellite broadband connection will cost a user less than US$10 per month for 24-hour unlimited access," he said.

Teguh Prasetya from PT Indosat told The Jakarta Post, "It takes around US$100 to start up investment on broadband connections for each house, while some US$1,000 is needed to start up the dial-up system for each house".

The Habibie Center in cooperation with the Information and Communication Ministry and Investor Groups against Digital Divide (IGADD) discussed the obstacles and recommendations around implementing broadband internet connections in Indonesia.

"We (want) to reach 20 percent of the country's population (to) provide affordable high-speed broadband internet access by 2012," Ilham Akbar Habibie, Chairman for the Institute for Democratization and Socialization of Technology-The Habibie Center (IDST-THC) said during his opening speech.

The discussion was called "Democracy 2.0: Enhancing Citizen Participation" and it was held in response to the government's program to expand information access for the entire society.

Associate Director for Research at The Habibie Center Dewi Fortuna Anwar said the use of technology was expected to stimulate the growth of democracy in the country.

"Our education system does not teach us to be outspoken," Dewi said.

"The top-down leadership or authoritarian style of government does not let our voice be heard.

"This is our challenge on how to change the people's mindset."

Palgunadi T. Setiawan, a businessman and financial spokesman for the discussion, said limited infrastructure would be one important obstacle to overcome.

"We are facing a problem of limited availability of cheap (computer) terminals and a lack of infrastructure, especially in rural areas," he said.

"We also need to provide internet technology, e-commerce (online trading) ... which is compatible with people's business scale or the availability of infrastructures in rural areas."

Palgunadi said widespread promotion of online services was needed, especially for the rural population, to show the business advantages technology could provide. (rff)