Y2K status report on Asian countries

SINGAPORE, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Below is a country-by-country breakdown on preparations by Asian nations to deal with millennium bug problems in the key areas of electricity, telecommunications, water distribution and aviation.

--AUSTRALIA

Electricity: Australia's National Electricity Market Management Co spokesman Paul Price said it would be ``business as usual'' at the turn of the century. NEMMCO manages the market operation in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland and has also supervised industry Year 2000 readiness plans. Price said special contingency plans were in place, but while no problems were expected due to the Y2K glitch there was always a risk of power blackouts.

``It is the behavioural things that will be much more of a problem on the night than the actual Y2K,'' he said. ``I think it is more than likely to be localised issues, people crashing into power poles, or whatever it might be.''

Telecoms: Johanna Plante, chief executive of the Australian Communications Industry Forum, said monitoring has shown risks associated with Y2K in the telecommunications industry have been minimised and Australians should be confident about Y2K compliance. Plante said almost A$1 billion is believed to have been spent on Y2K remediation and testing.

``All the basic network, system and support system testing and remediation work has been completed,'' she said, although carriers are continuing to test and re-test contingency plans.

Plante said minor carriers have also been monitored but the main focus has been on the five biggest companies, which carry more than 95 percent of all communications traffic.

Water: Susan Page, chief general manager of the Australian Federal government's Y2K project office, said water utilities were run by regional and local authorities. ``However, based on the information supplied there is nothing to suggest that the supply of water is at significant risk of Y2K disruption.''

Aviation: Ansett Australia spokesman Nick Slater said the airline's systems were Y2K compliant, but none of its planes would be airborne for 13 hours from 11:00 p.m. (1200 GMT) on December 31. Flights will resume at 12:00 p.m. (0100 GMT) on January 1.

Qantas Airways (Australia:QAN.AX - news) spokesman Des Sullivan said it ``believed it had done what was appropriate to ensure its systems and work environment were ready for the rollover'' to 2000. No planes on domestic routes will be airborne at midnight (1300 GMT).

--BANGLADESH

Electricity: State-run Power Development Board spokesman Bazlul Haque said the country's power sector is 97 percent Y2K compliant. He said there were no time-bound processors in its transmission, distribution and sub-station protection system. ``All sub-stations can be manually operated,'' said Haque, a director of the board.

Telecoms: Telecommunications spokesman Hafizur Rahman said Bangladesh's telecoms sector is 90 percent Y2K compliant. ``We will be 100 percent compliant by December 15. Our satellite ground stations are Y2K compliant.''

Water: Jafrin Hossain, system analyst at state-run Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, said the authority supplied water 100 percent manually. ``There are no time and data related devices in our system as it is yet to be computerised. But we have installed Y2K-compliant generators in case of power failure due to millennium bug.''

Aviation: Asaduzzaman (eds: one name), convenor of the Civil Aviation Authority's Y2K programme, said Bangladesh's airports were 90 percent Y2K compliant. ``We are now waiting for installation of Automatic Message Switching Systems before December 15 to get 100 percent compliant. But we may function without our lone radar in Dhaka because its manufacturer asked for a hefty charge to test its Y2K status.''

Bangladesh Biman, the country's flag carrier, said it is 98 percent ready but would ground flights on December 31 from 1800 GMT until 0100 GMT January 1.

--JAPAN

Electricity: Hiroji Ota, chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies, said in November all electric power firms had completed steps to combat Y2K and the tests ensured no disruption will occur. ``All electric power firms completed all safety measures to tackle the computer bug.''

Telecoms: A spokesman for Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) said the main companies within the NTT group directly involved in telecommunications -- NTT East, NTT West, NTT Communications, NTT Docomo -- had completed their steps, including simulation tests and contingency planning.

NTT's website says: ``No problems arose from the simulation tests and we think that problems such as the entire communication system halting will not occur...But the Y2K issue has unpredictable characteristics and we cannot say there are no oversights, and we will continue to take strengthening measures with the remaining time.''

Water: A government official at Japan's Health Ministry in charge of overseeing Y2K compliance of Japan's waterways said the ministry had confirmed that operators of major systems had all completed necessary measures including simulation tests and contingency planning by the end of November. He said that even if any problems arose, it was possible to switch the systems to manual operation and he does not anticipate any disruptions in water supply.

Aviation: Japan's three largest airlines -- Japan Airlines (JAL) , All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Air System (JAS) -- successfully carried out test flights in September by shifting the on-board calendars forward to simulate flying on New Year's Eve. Transport Minister Jiro Kawasaki, who flew in one of the planes, told reporters: ``I confirmed myself that the machinery in the planes worked perfectly and there were no problems in communicating with ground staff.''

In July, the three airlines said they were ready. ``We (the three airlines)...were fully prepared to cope with the millennium problem by the end of June,'' Masahiro Kinoshita, ANA's managing director told a news conference.

All 12 domestic airlines have completed compliance measures for their key systems, including simulation tests and contingency planning, by the end of September, according to a government survey released in late October.

--SOUTH KOREA

Electricity: A spokesman for Korea Electric Power Corp , the country's power monopoly, said all of its power stations were 100 percent Y2K ready. KEPCO has a total of 343 power plants including 14 nuclear ones, said spokesman Moon Sung-ho.

Telecoms: An information and communications ministry spokesman said the telecommunications industry had been Y2K compliant since the end of September.

State-run Korea Telecom declared itself millennium ready in August, said Kwak Roh-kwan, head of the company's Y2K readiness programme.

Water: Government-invested Korea Water Resources Corp (KOWACO) said all its facilities were 100 percent ready. Yoon Young-sig, manager of the Y2K emergency planning department at the KOWACO, said 3,000 staff of the company had undergone three mock tests this year to prepare for any Y2K glitches in automated machinery.

Aviation: The Ministry of Construction and Transportation said the aviation sector completed Y2K simulation tests in July.

``In the case of local airports, including the Kimpo International Airport, we checked not only flight control systems but also elevators and other electricity systems,'' said Han Kyong-sun, an official at the ministry's Y2K task force.

He said companies with small planes and helicopters had reported to the ministry they had no Y2K bug problems.

--MALAYSIA

Electricity: Tenaga Nasional Bhd said it is 100 percent Y2K ready. Tenaga chief executive officer Ahmad Tajuddin Ali said final testing was done on all systems on November 27, which showed that all power stations, transmission and distribution systems are fully Y2K compliant.

Telecoms: Telekom Malaysia Bhd said all its critical functions and activities and its mobile phone subsidiaries had been Y2K-ready since October 30. The company said in a statement that it ``will be able to provide uninterrupted call services.'' The critical systems of the country's largest mobile phone operator Technology Resources Industries Bhd's said they are Y2K-compliant. All services and systems were Y2K-ready as at June 1999.

Water: The government's National Y2K team said most equipment critical for the treatment and distribution of water does not contain microprocessors or embedded chips and are therefore not subject to the Y2K problem.

Aviation: National carrier Malaysian Airline Systems Bhd (MAS) executive vice-president for information technology Rodzlan Akib Abu Bakar said the airline is Y2K-ready. Its critical systems and aircraft have been ready since September 30. MAS said in a statement a total of 62 flights will be cancelled during the millennium cross-over due to ``poor bookings,'' not the Y2K bug.

--NEW ZEALAND

Electricity: All of New Zealand's major electricity network, generation and retail companies are Y2K ready, according to statements issued over the past three months. A survey by the Y2K Readiness Commission in October found 96 percent compliance in the industry, with all critical systems covered.

Telecoms: Major telecommunications company Telecom Corporation said its NZ$100 million Y2K programme was 99 percent completed as at November 30 with only minor work remaining.

``All this work and testing gives Telecom confidence that it's ready,'' the company said in a statement.

Water: After initial criticism from auditors in mid-1998 that the local government sector was not far enough advanced in preparing for Y2K, major urban centres now claim readiness in key water/wastewater operations. In the largest city, Auckland, bulk supplier Watercare Services and central city operator Metrowater have both issued statements claiming to be compliant.

Aviation: National carrier Air New Zealand plans a 20-30 percent reduction in scheduled services over the new year period because of low bookings, spokesman Cameron Hill said.

Both Air NZ and domestic rival Ansett New Zealand say they have completed checks on key systems such as avionics and external suppliers such as airports and air traffic control.

--PAKISTAN

Electricity: Pakistan's state utility Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) is 95 percent Y2K-ready, power ministry officials said.

Telecoms: Sultan Ahmed, a spokesman for the state-owned Pakistan Telecommunications Company , said that all testing had been completed and the company was ready for the rollover between December 31 and January 1, 2000.

Water: Pakistan water distribution is largely manual and needs no compliance tests. The dams and large water reservoirs controlled by WAPDA are compliant.

Aviation: Ijaz Khawaja, head of a Y2K national task force, said the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority was 99 percent Y2K complaint with air traffic control and radar systems already tested for the rollover. State-run Pakistan International Airlines is close to 100 percent compliance.

--PHILIPPINES

Electricity: Manila Electric Co , the Philippines' largest electricity distributor, said in a statement it ``achieved Y2K readiness for all its mission critical systems by the end of July this year.'' Contingency plans were completed in September.

The state's National Power Corp, the biggest power producer, was 95 percent ready for Y2K as of September.

Telecoms: Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co said in a statement international gateway exchanges have been fixed and are now Y2K ready. More interconnection tests are scheduled, with the latest simulation with Telstra Corp Ltd (Australia:TLS.AX - news) of Australia executed without error or failure.

Water: Major water distributor Maynilad Water is Y2K ready, said company spokesman Bertrand Pesayco. Maynilad has 470,000 connections supplying 66 percent of the total population of Metro Manila, or about 7.3 million of 11 million people.

Pesayco said that as part of its contingency measures Maynilad has acquired generators and stocked up on fuel to ensure the operation of its treatment plants. There will be organised response teams ready to deliver water to service areas if needed.

Aviation: Flag carrier Philippine Airlines [PHL.CN] is Y2K-ready, company president Avelino Zapanta said in a statement. PAL successfully conducted simulation flights along with the Air Traffic Centre.

--SINGAPORE

Electricity: Singapore Power, the monopoly provider of electricity in Singapore, said:

``We have put in place a comprehensive Y2K compliance programme to tackle the Y2K problem. This covers all aspects involved in the supply of electricity and gas as well as our business support systems. It covers power and gas production, transmission and distribution, customer services, administration and logistics and other business support activities. Our systems are tested under live conditions and are documented and verified. Contingency plans are also in place to deal with unexpected developments.''

Telecoms: A Singapore Telecommunications Ltd spokesman said: "SingTel embarked on a Y2K programme as early as August 1996 and today all our services are Y2K-ready.

``We have been awarded the Y2K-In Action logo by the National Computer Board in recognition of our commitment. All the tests that we have carried out have shown successful results, achieving zero failure rate. We believe we should see a smooth transition to the year 2000.'' SingTel is the monopoly provider in Singapore of fixed-line telecommunications.

Water: A spokeswoman for Singapore's Public Utilities Board said: "Water supply will not be interrupted on the account of Y2K.

Aviation: A spokesman for Singapore Airlines said SIA had no worries about its own state of readiness and added that Singapore Changi Airport was also well prepared for the crossover into the year 2000.

This reflected comments from SIA chairman Cheong Choong Kong, the spokesman said. In September, Cheong said, ``We can assure our customers that any service we operate will be safe and Changi Airport will be functioning as normal.''

--SRI LANKA

Electricity: ``We are now 100 percent compliant in power generation, transmission, distribution and information which deals with billing. We have also almost finalised contingency plans to mitigate any risk due to unforseen problems,'' Geethapriya Tillekeratne, a deputy general manager at the Ceylon Electricity Board, said.

Telecoms: Fixed-line and mobile operators (voice and data) are Y2K-ready and contingency plans have been prepared for international and domestic traffic to go uninterrupted, said B.R.O. Fernando, National Y2K Coordinator.

Water: Water treatment plants and pumping stations are not computerised.

Aviation: Sri Lanka's airport and civilian aviation have been Y2K-ready since June 1999, Fernando said, adding that seaports have been cleared since July 1999.

--TAIWAN

Electricity: Taiwan Power Company public liaison officer Lee Chuang-lai said the company's three nuclear power plants, 27 thermal and 39 hydro power plants are all ready for Y2K.

Telecoms: Chunghwa Telecom Company Director Li Yen-sung said the company, which had started its reprogramming work in 1997, should have no problem in all of its systems in the millennium.

Water: Taiwan Water Work Y2K centre chief Yu Meng-pin said the company would stay open during the millennium rollover, and its various systems are 100 percent compliant.

Aviation: Civil Aeronautics Administration navigation chief Tan Chao-pi said all air traffic control, flight standard, navigation and air cargo systems were well prepared and ready for a safe rollover.

Tan said to doubly ensure safety, CAA has arranged to have 122 domestic flights cancelled and 57 international flights between 1300 GMT December 31 and 0400 GMT January 1.

-- THAILAND

Electricity: Viravat Chlayon, governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, said the power enterprise was well prepared for Y2K.

``There could be only a case out of hundreds millions of scenarios that Y2K will affect our operations. Y2K is not an unexpected problem, so we've been well prepared.''

Telecoms: The Communication Authority of Thailand governor Teerapong Suttinon said they were ready.

``All the operations linking both domestic and international facilities had been tested and proved as Y2K complianced.''

Water: Chuanpit Dhammasiri, governor of the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA), said MWA's operations had readily been secured from the Y2K computer problems

``In any case of emergent disruption, we could immediately switch to manually controlled operations. Anyway, we will constantly and closely monitor the situation around the turn of the century.''

Vichien Udomratanasilp, a spokesman of the Provincial Waterworks Authority, said Thailand's suburban water sourcing and supply system was prepared for a possible millenium bug.

``Most of our facilities are being controlled manually, while there's a minimal risk, against which we have taken various actions, on some automatically operated units.''

Aviation: Transport Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Thailand's aviation communications, navigation systems, control tower and ground control equipment systems were now guaranteed to be free from the millennium bug.

``All flights will be saved from the Y2K. We've proved it,'' he said.

Thai Airways International Plc said it will cancel 20 international flights and reschedule six others on December 31 and January 1 because of low demand.

--VIETNAM

Electricity: The Vietnam Y2K Steering Committee said power stations were 90 percent ready for Y2K. It said electricity transmission facilities were 100 percent ready.

Telecoms: The Steering Committee said the local telecoms network was 100 percent ready for Y2K, while international communications were 98 percent ready.

Water: No information available.

Aviation: The committee said the civil aviation authority and national carrier Vietnam Airlines were 100 percent ready while the country's airports were 95 percent ready.

-- Llama man (llama@cool.net), December 15, 1999

Answers

Llama, "Water: Susan Page, chief general manager of the Australian Federal government's Y2K project office, said water utilities were run by regional and local authorities. ``However, based on the information supplied there is nothing to suggest that the supply of water is at significant risk of Y2K disruption."

The top of your post said this was a "breakdown" of preperations. Quoted above is perported to be the breakdown of the preperations for the water supply for the entire country of Australia. I would like to point out that while brievity is not always the hallmark of incompleteness, the statement above is a "non-statement". It merely says that they have not received any information that could lead them to a "negative" conclusion". It does not relate the completenss of that information nor the rigors of their search. This is the classic CYA response by someone in a bad situation. "Based upon the information recieved".....

-- gary (a@a.com), December 15, 1999.

Gary,

I agree. These status reports are hilarious, Saturday Night Live stuff.

Llama

-- Llama man (llama@cool.net), December 15, 1999.

Now I feel like Roseanne Roseanna Danna......Nevermind (g).

-- gary (a@a.com), December 15, 1999.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/19991209/tc/pakistan_y2k_jitters_1.htm l

Link

Thursday December 9 1:20 PM ET

Pakistan Has Millennium Bug Woes

By KATHY GANNON Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - In Pakistan it is not so much a question of whether anything will go wrong at the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31 - it's how much will go wrong.

With the millennium bug nipping at their heels, the people whose job it is to prepare key services, like air traffic control, power supply and hospitals, are worried.

The Y2K glitch, the result of computer programming that expressed years with two digits, means that uncorrected computers could interpret ``2000'' as ``1900'' and crash or garble data.

In Pakistan, the correction process is way behind schedule.

Lack of money has dogged Pakistan's efforts to upgrade its computers, said national Y2K coordinator Ijaz Khawaja. The Oct. 12 military coup, which overthrew an elected government, has added to Pakistan's woes.

In a worst-case scenario, airports could shut down, hospitals could be left struggling to get their patients on manually operated life- support systems and Karachi, the country's largest city, could be left completely in the dark.

All that is unlikely to happen, said Khawaja. But with time running out, systems untested and key equipment only partially inventoried, no one knows for sure.

With few exceptions, the technical staff in most Pakistani hospitals are underqualified and the doctors who use the equipment have little technical know-how, said Khawaja.

A lot of hospital equipment was purchased from eastern European countries and hospitals have long since lost the technical manuals, he said.

Khawaja has advised hospitals not to use equipment they are unsure about.

In the country's most populous Punjab province, where 60 percent of Pakistan's 140 million people live, doctors are doing more than that. They have canceled all but emergency surgery from Dec. 30 until Jan. 1.

Khawaja says aviation is his gravest concern.

The Civil Aviation Authority has missed every Y2K compliance deadline so far, but said Thursday that by mid-December its critical radar systems will be compliant and ready for testing. That leaves just two weeks to test, considered far too little time by most experts.

Khawaja said the defense industry in this fledgling nuclear weapons state claims to be Y2K compliant but has not provided any documentation.

Another worry for Khawaja is the southern port city of Karachi, which he says is having problems with embedded chips in one of its big electric plants.

But at the Karachi Electric Company they say they have made alternate arrangements for getting power to the city's 14 million people, including tapping into the national power grid and buying power from private companies.

For the Dec. 31 rollover, Khawaja is trying to organize a millennium monitoring desk with links to all major industries and utilities. Many other countries already have such Y2K command centers in place.

``I'll be here at my desk at midnight,'' he said. ``I've asked everyone that could be affected to have people working and ready to report any trouble.''

-- Is Pakistan ready or is (it@not.ready), December 15, 1999.