Telkom Invites 12 Foreigners To Repair Broken Optical Cable

JAYAPURA, Papua, Jan 19 (Antara) - The management of PT. Telkom (state run telecommunication firm) has invited 12 foreign technicians to repair the optical cable of the "Sulawesi, Maluku, Papua Cable System (SMPCS)" found broken by an earthquake in Papua New Guinea on December 29, 2016. General Manager of Telkom Witel Papua, Lonely Baringin Mangaranap said here on Wednesday that the licensing process to repair the damaged Telkom optic cable needs quite long time, as well as the work permit for the 12 foreigners who are exclusively specialized technicians. "Many things of the process need permit for six day underwater work because the Director General of Immigration and Defence involved 12 expatriate workers. So far, none of Indonesian people can tackle this work," according to Lonely. He also confirmed about many questions relating to the length of time to repair optical cables that dropped at a depth of 1,100 meters, because the technology used is quite complicated and there is no Indonesian citizen that has special skills to repair the optical cables. Lonely further revealed that any incident of cut optic cable, resulting the decrease of service quality, is a loss to Telkom Group worth billions of rupiah.