‘Wartel’ falling victim to cellular services

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 08/02/2010 10:46 AM

Telecommunication kiosks, or wartel, — once flourishing businesses present in almost all neighborhoods in Jakarta — are facing extinction brought on by advances in wireless communications.

Wartel were once very popular among people making frequent long distance phone calls.

However, radical advancements in wireless technology and fierce competition between local cellular network providers have brought high speed Internet and cheap long-distance phone calls to consumers’ fingertips.

“My boss finally decided to close down his wartel business two months ago because we were getting fewer customers. Besides, the equipment had fallen apart too,” Yuli, 19, an employee of Fatima Cell in Empang Tiga, Pasar Minggu, in South Jakarta told The Jakarta Post recently.

She said her boss has begun selling cell phone vouchers to stay competitive.

“Last year we could still earn Rp 100,000 [US$11] a day but three months ago our daily income decreased to less than Rp 50,000,” she said.

“Every one now has cell phones so I don’t think they need wartel anymore.”

Reni, 25, a housewife who helped her husband establish a wartel on Jl. Raya Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, recently closed down the business because of a lack of customers.

“When we started this business four years ago, we had four booths and they attracted quite a lot of customers,” said the mother of two.

She said that in its heyday, the business earned up to Rp 300,000 a day.

A month ago, no longer able to cover even telephone or electricity overheads, they decided to close down the business.

“You can imagine, what could we do with only Rp 3,000 of income a day or sometimes even no income at all,” Reni said, adding that she had not decided what kind of business she would replace the wartel with.

“We still keep the equipment though,” she said.

According to an urban business scholar from the University of Indonesia, Nining Indroyono Soesilo, 24-hour food stalls and massage parlors were examples of micro businesses that would likely prove resilient.

“Or if they have more capital to invest it is better to have something to do with leisure and social elements like an Internet cafe that can facilitate users of social networking sites,” she said.

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