http://www.abcnews.go.com/ABC2000/abc2000tech/Y2Kphones_991029.html

Phone Companies Brace for New Years Tie-ups Don't Pick Up Phone at Midnight, They Warn

By Kalpana Srinivasan

The Associated Press

W A S H I N G T O N  Major phone companies are sending an unusual New Years plea to their customers: Dont 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 theres 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 wont necessarily indicate that Year 2000 problems have wrecked the network, say companies.

Just because you pick up the telephone at or around midnight Dec. 31st and get a busy signal doesnt mean youve 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 theyve already 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.

Are Phone Companies Y2K-Ready?

While the Federal Communications Commission says most small and midsize 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 doesnt 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.

There is also 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.

Dont even test it, is the advice of Bell Atlantic spokesman Jim Smith. Its going to work. Dont 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.

Busiest Time of the Year

Estimates vary. But one high-end figure predicts the number of people picking up their phones then will be 11 times that of Mothers Day  one of the years 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 companys chief technology officer.

Another concern is that people might dial 911 to check the number, even if theres 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.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@Y2KOK.ORG), November 01, 1999

Answers

They are assuming you can grope for the phone in the dark...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), November 01, 1999.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/ABC2000/abc2000tech/Y2Kphones_991029.html

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), November 01, 1999.

The post above should be enough proof for anyone that Andy is a Doomer Troll.

-- (andy@is. a doomer troll), November 01, 1999.

I won't pick the phone up, but I will be on line...on the internet...checking in here and there and everywhere. My line will be tied up for hours and hours.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), November 01, 1999.

For many years I have gone to bed early, only to be awaken by the next door neighbors letting off fire crackers, I do my usual, get up, go out have a cigarette as I watch them fire off the rockets towards the neighbor across the street (whom they are related to) by the time I'm done w/my smoke all is quiet. I put on a fire proof roof last year, these nuts have 20 year old wood shingles. I plan on picking up my phone when I waltz in from outside, just to see if all is well on the home front, what the hell it's my phone & may get a few hours head start on preparing for the wolves locked up 4 miles away.

-- Judy (Dodgeball@bell.com), November 01, 1999.

1) Judy: we also have massive fireworks here in Hawaii. Last year, the copmplaint was that there was so much smoke it was difficult to drive (and breathe).

2) I'm going to do all my calling around 2 pm HST (midnight UTC or Zulu).

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), November 02, 1999.