[Kabar-indonesia] Excelcom names ex Indosat chief as president

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, September 2, 2006

Excelcom names ex Indosat chief as president

PT Excelcomindo Pratama, Indonesia's third-largest mobile-phone company, 
named the former head of PT Indosat as president, betting the 19- year veteran at 
the bigger rival will help it expand market share.

Hasnul Suhaimi, who was Indosat's president director for a year through May 
2006, started his career at Indonesia's second-largest phone company in 1987.

Suhaimi takes over Excelcomindo, controlled by Telekom Malaysia Bhd., as the 
company prepares to start high-speed wireless services to bolster sales and as 
rival s cut prices to gain users.

Indosat, which under Suhaimi posted a 30 percent profit drop in the first 
half, is increasing spending on marketing this year to regain lost share.

"Excelcom is already on the right track, with a 50 percent growth in revenue 
in the first half," Suhaimi (pictured center) told reporters following the 
company's extraordinary shareholders meeting which was also attended by chief 
commissioner Tan Sri Dato' Muhammad Radzi Mansor (right) and corporate affairs 
director Rudiantara (left).

Excelcomindo plans to spend as much as $700 million to expand in Indonesia 
this year. The company faces increased competition from rivals such as Hutchison 
Telecommunications International Ltd.'s Indonesian unit PT Cyber Access 
Telecommunications, which plans to start services in a market where fewer than one 
in five people own a cell phone.

Excelcomindo had 8.4 million users at the end of June, compared with about 14 
million subscribers at Indosat and around 27 million at market leader PT 
Telekomunikasi Selular.

Suhaimi joined Indosat as the operations manager for telex and telephone 
services before leaving to study at the University in Hawaii, where he earned a 
Master's degree in Business Administration in 1992.

Kaizad B. Heerjee, Indosat's deputy president director, has been heading the 
company since Suhaimi resigned.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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