Phone companies don't want you to ring in the New Year

By KALPANA SRINIVASAN

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON --- Major telephone companies are sending an unusual New Year's plea to their customers: Don't pick up that phone!

They fear millions of people will check for a dial tone just after midnight on Jan. 1 to see whether their phone service survived the Y2K bug.

Add them to all the folks who ring in the New Year by calling family, and there is a potential for a telecommunications traffic jam. Some callers who pick up their handsets might hear nothing or get a fast busy signal.

But that won't necessarily indicate that Year 2000 problems have wrecked the network, companies say.

"Just because you pick up the telephone at or around midnight Dec. 31st and get a busy signal doesn't mean you've been bitten by the Y2K bug," said Bill Kula, of GTE.

Y2K problems arise from breakdowns in computer systems that read only the last two digits in a year and interpret 2000, or "00," as 1900.

The big phone companies say they already have solved their Year 2000 computer problems after spending more than $2.8 billion to upgrade their networks and supporting systems. Yet they are shelling out extra cash to urge consumers not to flood the system at midnight. They are using inserts in phone bills, grassroots information sessions and advertising to spread the word.

While the Federal Communications Commission says most small and mid-size carriers expect to be compliant in time, some --- estimated to carry less than 1 percent of total phone access lines --- may not be. The FCC doesn't expect this to affect call processing and completion.

But Jim Lord, who wrote a book about the problem and publishes a bimonthly Y2K newsletter, cautions about the telecommunications industry.

"All of the information we have is based on self-reporting," he said.

There also is less certainty about international calls, since they could hinge on the Year 2000 readiness of foreign countries' infrastructures and domestic phone systems.

"I think some folks will be disappointed because they will try to call other countries and some of those calls might not go through," said AT&T spokesman Dave Johnson.

Phone companies, bracing for congestion, are urging consumers not to pick up their phone just to see if the line is working and are hoping they will space out their calls.

"Don't even test it," is the advice of Bell Atlantic spokesman Jim Smith. "It's going to work. Don't make yourself nervous by running into a backed-up network."

Several companies anticipate some phone system blockages during the weekend --- particularly in the hours right after midnight and in the morning when people are calling relatives.

Estimates vary. But one high-end figure predicts the number of people picking up their phones then will be 11 times that of Mother's Day --- one of the year's busiest calling times, said Dave Bolger, of the U.S. Telephone Association, which represents phone companies.

Consumers can clog the system even without dialing because just taking the phone off the hook engages the system. Once the system reaches a certain threshold, machines monitoring the traffic might start to block dial tones or send fast busy signals.

U S West has tried to calm customers' nerves with newspaper ads showing a sun rising over the trees and telling consumers that on Jan. 1, "the phones will ring."

The company also set up a number that consumers can dial to simulate a call in the Year 2000: The call is placed through Y2K compliant equipment through systems with the date set one year ahead.

"This way, consumers are not just relying on our corporate speak," said William White, the company's chief technology officer.

Another concern is that people might dial 911 to check the number, even if there is no emergency.

GTE has "encouraged our customers to think about the millennium and the use of the telephone as they would in a hurricane or earthquake," Kula said.

Phone

Copyright 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.