Qatar Queries Indonesian Government Over Indosat 3G Internet Case

Rangga Prakoso

The Attorney General’s Office claimed it wasn’t aware of a letter sent by Qatar’s government to the Indonesian government regarding an Internet frequency case that involved Indosat subsidiary Indosat Mega Media.

“I have not received any information related to that,” said Attorney General Basrief Arief in Jakarta Friday.

Basrief said that the investigation process on the subsidary’s (IM2) 3G Internet frequency case was ongoing and the dossiers on former IM2 president director Indar Atmanto, one of the suspects in the case, were completed on Wednesday.

“So, we will test the case in court,” Basrief said.

Indosat president director Alexander Rusli previously said the government of Qatar had sent the Indonesian government a letter but added that he didn’t know exactly what it contained because it was confidential.

The Qatarian government is paying special attention to the IM2 case because Qatar Telecom (QTel) is the majority shareholder in Indosat with a 65 percent stake.

The AGO has also named former Indosat president director Johnny Swandi a suspect in the case. Johnny and Indar are accused with articles 2 and 3 of the antigraft law.

The AGO said that IM2 didn’t have the right to use the 3G network because it never took part in the selection process during the bandwith auction.

The decision by the AGO to charge telecommunicaton officials for passing the communications spectrum to a subsidiary has prompted fears among industry players as the practice has become commonplace.

On Nov. 13, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tifatul Sembiring sent a letter to the AGO saying Indosat had not violated any laws when passing on 3G Internet frequency acquired from the government to its subsidiary.