•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

Indonesian activists are encouraging mobile phone users to turn their cellphones off on Saturday to protest against unwanted mobile phone service costs.

One of the groups, Voice of Humanism, urged users to switch off their phones from 10 a.m. to midday on Saturday as “shock therapy” for providers.

“If consumers turn off their cellphones simultaneously for two hours, operators will lose a 120-minute chance to make money,” the group’s leader, Harja Saputra, wrote on the group’s Web site.

Harja said they held cellular providers responsible for the problems.

“Because content providers as the ‘credit thieves’ seek shelter under the cellular provider’s roof. It means there’s a collaboration between the two providers,” he alleged.

Defiant Tifatul Denies Ignoring Public Complaints Over Phone Text Scam

Another group, Indonesian Cellphone Consumers, also encouraged people to declare Saturday a cellphone-free day.

“We as consumers have the right to turn off our cellphones anytime we want. If everyone in Indonesia turns off their cellphones simultaneously, cellular providers will see what the consumers can do,” the group said in a message circulated on Blackberry.

The groups also urged the government to disband the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Body [BRTI].

“BRTI was founded based on Law 36/1999 on Telecommunications,” Harja said. “The law was made on behalf of the people so the law must take sides with the people, in this case, the cellphone consumers.”

The outcry over the unwanted cellular service costs started after a report filed by Feri Kuntoro from East Jakarta, who reported Telkomsel to the police last Wednesday, and was later himself reported to the police by Colibri, a content provider, even though he says he did not make accusations against them.

Earlier this week, Ferry told the Jakarta Globe that he was being harassed after lodging the report and has appealed to the Victim and Witness Protection Agency (LPSK) for help.