South Korea Telecom Operators Almost Y2K Ready Y2K Update Asia

South Korea's telecommunications operators are on track to be fully Y2K compliant by the end of August, the Minister of Information and Communications Nam Kyong-sok said Tuesday.

The government is monitoring progress at the country's major telecommunications operators to ensure there are no outages as the new year rolls in. At Korea Telecom, Dacom, SK Telecom and Shinsegi Telecom, judged the four most important operators in the country, Y2K work is expected to be finished before late August.

Three operators of PCS mobile telephone networks, KT Freetel, LG Telecom and Hansol PCS, are already Y2K ready.

The telecom operators performed a series of tests in May that tested their own networks and the interconnections with other carriers to ensure wireline to wireline, wireline to wireless and wireless to wireless calls still flowed.

However, taking no chances, the Ministry said it plans to establish a Y2K division in December to handle any problems that might arise.

Thailand's TOT, TA Sign Pact On Y2K Solution By Usanee Mongkolporn, The Nation.

The Telephone Organisation of Thailand (TOT) and TelecomAsia (TA) yesterday signed a contract to hire Siam Unisys to inspect their Y2K solution systems, a measure taken to bolster confidence among subscribers.

The state agency and TA announced that their millennium-bug protection systems will be complete by the end of this month and ready for the inspection process. Siam Unisys is expected to spend three months completing its task.

TOT and TA could not specify the cost of the Y2K inspection deal, as this depends on the actual amount of work needed.

The state enterprise has spent more than 200 million baht (US$5.43 million) on its Y2K protection measures while TA has spent 100 million baht ($2.72 million).

The deal with Siam Unisys has been set up in order to ensure that TOT's 2.5 million telephone lines and TA's 1.35 million lines are not affected by the millennium bug when the year 2000 arrives.

Thai Telephone & Telecommunications (TT&T), a fixed-line operator, did not enter into the contract due to financial trouble.

A source in the telecom sector said however that TOT, which awarded a provincial telephone concession to TT&T, is looking for a solution to assure TT&T's customers that its networks are bug-proof. TT&T operates 1.2 million telephone lines in the provinces.

Sutham Malila, TOT's chief information officer, said that in December customers could request a check on their phone lines to make sure whether or not they are bug-free.

"TOT also has a contingency plan to cope with emergencies," Sutham said.

Vichoaw Rakphongpairoj, TA's executive vice president, said the company has long been prepared for possible problems concerning Y2K.

The Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT), which operates international phone services, also reaffirmed its readiness to cope with the Y2K problem, having spent about 483 million baht ($13.1 million) in its protection program.

-- Mild Mannered Reporter (clark@super.duper), July 12, 1999

Answers

Almost ready...almost2000.

-- citizen (lost@sea.com), July 12, 1999.

"Almost ready...almost2000."

-- citizen (lost@sea.com), July 12, 1999.

ROTFLMAO!! hehehehehehehe.....DAMN that was good!!!

-- notrollsinsight (midwestmike_@hotmail.com), July 12, 1999.

South Koreas telecom operators are ready for Y2K. I can hear it now. A voice in the handset which has been trained to say "Phones no workee, Sahm Ni Da."

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), July 12, 1999.