JAKARTA, Indonesia and CANNES, France - February 14, 2005 - PT Indosat Tbk (Indosat) (JSX: ISAT; NYSE:IIT), Indonesia's leading telecommunication and information provider, has deployed the innovative Cisco Systems® IP Transfer Point (ITP) to cost-effectively transition towards Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks. The Cisco® solution enables Indosat's Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network to efficiently handle increasing traffic volumes while providing a foundation for third-generation (3G) wireless network infrastructure and services.

The Cisco equipment complements legacy signalling-transfer-point (STP) equipment which was unable to match the Cisco ITP solution for both efficiency and the ability to operate smoothly over satellite connections. Besides enhancing Indosat's cellular network by offloading Signaling System 7 (SS7) traffic from the legacy STP network to an SS7-over-IP network, the Cisco ITP provides Indosat the ability to enhance its network to generate IP-based services.

"We face many challenges in serving a fast-growing and geographically dispersed customer base and we required a technology platform that offers us stability, reliability and a path to the future. After evaluating the different alternatives, we decided that Cisco's ITP solution backed by a Cisco IP backbone network was one of the best options," said Wityasmoro Sih Handayanto, Indosat Business Development Director.

At the core of Indosat's cellular network is the Cisco 7513 Router running the Cisco IOS® Software-based ITP application. Also deployed are the Cisco 2600XM Series Router for connectivity to Indosat's data communications network (DCN), and the Cisco 7204VXR and 7206VXR routers.

"Mobile service providers such as Indosat are deploying IP links to converge the signalling core for two important reasons. One driver is operational efficiencies. As SS7-based messaging services expand and 3G standards increasingly call for SS7-over-IP, it has become clear that the future will have all subscriber services running over an IP core network. Such a migration yields significant operational efficiencies that are translated to the provider's bottom line profit," said Irfan Setiaputra, managing director, Indonesia, Cisco Systems.

"Another significant benefit is bandwidth efficiency: IP core transport is simply more efficient than TDM links. IP bandwidth can be shared by all traffic, whereas only two adjacent nodes can use TDM point-to-point facilities. When there are periods of low volumes of traffic between two nodes, for example, the TDM bandwidth is wasted. IP links, however, can be used to carry any type of signalling traffic through the IP core. Because of IP QoS features, the timely delivery of critical traffic can be guaranteed," he added.

About Indosat

Indosat is a leading telecommunication and information provider in Indonesia that provides: cellular, fixed telecommunication and multimedia, data communication and internet (MIDI). By end of 2004, Indosat had around 9.75 million cellular subscribers. Until the third quarter of 2004, cellular business contributed 68,5% of company's operating revenues, IDD (16,4%) and MIDI & others (14,2%). Indosat's shares are listed in the Jakarta and Surabaya Stock Exchange (JSX:ISAT) and its American Depository Shares are listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:IIT). For further information, please visit our website at www.indosat.com