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Cambodian govt. to handle international phone calls

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October 10, 2000 

PHNOM PENH (AP) - The Cambodian government will take over operation of international telephone service from the Australian firm Telstra beginning Wednesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen said.

Telstra's 10-year contract with the government ends at midnight Tuesday, after negotiations over the past year to extend it failed.

The government has not decided if it will bring in a partner to help operate the overseas telephone gateway, Hun Sen said at a ceremony marking the end of Telstra's involvement.

"For now, we'll do it alone," Hun Sen said.

Telstra assets worth some dlrs 20 million, including some 170 telephone booths, will be taken over by the government.

The Australian company will continue to act as an Internet service provider.

Minister of Posts and Telecommunications So Khun said he hopes the government will run the lucrative overseas phone service by itself.

"We expect no problems running the business alone because the Cambodian staff have been working with Telstra for 10 years and have learned a lot," So Khun said.

He said the Finance Ministry will provide dlrs 2 million, which could be used in part to hire foreign technicians.

Hun Sen said the international telephone gateway generated roughly dlrs 300 million in profits since 1990, of which the government took about dlrs 200 million and Telstra dlrs 100 million.

Andrew Hankins, Telstra's general manager for Cambodia, said he hopes the Australian firm will be able to act in an advisory capacity for six more months but details have not yet been worked out with the government.

Craig Barrett, Telstra's regional manager, said he was pleased with Telstra's accomplishments during the past 10 years, claiming that the poverty-stricken Southeast Asian nation now has world-class telecommunications facilities.

"When we were first approached to work with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications in 1990, Cambodia had only eight telephone lines to handle incoming and outgoing international calls," a press release quoted Barrett as saying.