Indonesia's largest mobile phone operator PT Telkomsel plans to expand its network by building 5, 000 new Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) this year at a cost of about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, a report said Monday.

With the new stations, Telkomsel hopes to penetrate every subdistrict on Kalimantan island and up to 70 percent of all subdistricts on Sulawesi.

Telkomsel currently has 15,000 cellular stations throughout the country, with a third of them being installed in 2006, reported major national newspaper The Jakarta Post.

With the number of cellular phone users expected to increase by 25 percent from 64 million last year to about 80 million this year, Telkomsel is optimistic it will be able to pick up between 7.5 and 9 million new users, or half of all new subscribers in the country.

About 63 percent of the country's total population of 240 million is between the ages of 15 and 50.

"These people have an acute sense for technology and a great deal of enthusiasm for technological developments," Telkomsel corporate communications manager Suryo Hadiyanto was quoted as saying.

According to Telkomsel, the country's cellular penetration now stands at just 25 percent of the total population. However, the penetration rate grew at an average of 67 percent per year from 2001 through 2006.

Telkomsel invested about 1.5 billion dollars last year in expanding its network and added 10.6 million new users, giving the company a total of 34.9 million customers.

Source: Xinhua