Indonesias competition agency on Wednesday said it would begin an investigation into alleged fixing of tariffs for text messages provided by several of the countrys mobile phone operators.
Mohammad Iqbal, chairman of the Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition, said it had launched a preliminary probe a week ago and expected it to take 30 days to make its findings.
Mr Iqbal said that the scope of the inquiry would cover large operators such as Telkomsel, Indosat and Excelcomindo Pratama, as well as smaller operators such as Mobile-8 Telecom and Hutchison Communications.
However, analysts fear the probe may again single out telecoms groups with foreign ownership.
Last month the agency found that Temasek, the Singapore state investment body, had breached competition rules through ownership of stakes in the countrys two largest mobile phone operators - Telkomsel and Indosat.
The agency ordered Telkomsel to reduce tariffs by at least 15 per cent.
"This investigation will also target the three largest companies, which happen to be foreign-owned," said David Chang, an analyst at UOB Hian Securities, referring to Telkomsel, Indosat and Exelcomindo, which is majority-owned by Telekom Malaysia.
Mr Chang added that he thought the probe was sending the wrong message to foreign investors.
"Over the years, with more competition, weve seen mobile phone and SMS rates coming down," Mr Chang said.
"I dont see how this will benefit users."
Separately, the Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) said on Wednesday it had bought a 16 per cent share in Excelcomindo Pratama, Indonesias third-largest mobile phone operator, for $438m.
Excelcomindo has 12.8m mobile phone subscribers, giving it about 14 per cent of the Indonesian market.
The Emirates mobile provider, the Arab worlds second-largest, said the investment was part of its expansion into Asia.
Etisalat said it was interested in moving into the Indonesian market, which has a mobile penetration rate of under 40 per cent.
Etisalat has investments in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The announcement was a positive sign, signalling that Arab mobile operators were interested in investing there, said Mr Chang, even though others had grown wary since the Temasek ruling.
