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Title: E-Mail Delivery Glitch Over, Pac Bell Says

Todd Wallack, Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, April 4, 2000

Pacific Bell said yesterday that it cleared up a glitch in its e-mail system over the weekend that delayed messages to thousands of its Internet customers in Northern California for five days last week. ``There should no longer be any slowing of e-mail delivery,'' said Pac Bell spokesman John Britton. He said the problem, which started March 27, was cleared up by early Saturday morning. Yesterday afternoon, the company posted a message on its Web site warning users that messages could be backed up again because of ``maintenance performed on the mail servers last night.'' Britton said that problem was also resolved yesterday. The glitch left many customers fuming, especially because it wasn't the first time the company's e-mail system had been backed up. The most recent incident was in February, Britton said. ``I have yet to encounter back-to-back weeks of successful operation,'' said Rajesh Viswanathan of San Francisco, who called the e-mail system ``horrendous."

Another Pac Bell customer said he often has to turn to the telephone and overnight delivery services for his free-lance copy editing business because of the e-mail problems. ``I rely on being able to get my e-mail attachments and get them fast,'' said Bob Johnson of Palo Alto. ``I can't wait until the next day."

Since Johnson signed up for high-speed Net service with Pac Bell on February 8, he said he's started checking the company's Web page regularly to determine the status of the e-mail system: About 30 percent of the time, it's listed as ``impaired,'' he said. As Pac Bell signs up more high-speed Net customers for its digital subscriber line service, Britton said, users are increasingly attaching pictures and other large files to their electronic messages, increasing the load on the company's e-mail servers.

Britton also said DSL customers are more likely to notice e-mail delays because they often leave their computers connected all the time, instead of just signing on once a day to check for new messages. ``DSL customers are a little different,'' he said. Pac Bell, which has more than 330,000 Net customers, isn't the only Internet service provider to run into problems. ExciteAtHome customers also complain their e-mail periodically is delayed.

``I'm not satisfied,'' said Mark Heverly, a Pleasanton aircraft maintenance worker who has had an ExciteAtHome cable modem for three years. ``It's down probably twice a month . . . (and) it's getting worse in the last year." Dan Calic, head of the ExciteAtHome users' group in Fremont, said e-mail tops the list of customers' complaints. Calic, who said he plans to ask ExciteAtHome officials about the issue, called the situation ``unfortunate, since e-mail is the most basic function of the Internet."

Meanwhile, Britton said the phone company still isn't sure what exactly caused the latest glitch. Although users have been gradually sending greater volumes of e-mail, he said Pac Bell had recently boosted the capacity of its computers, known as servers, and should have been able to handle the extra load. Britton said the company took several measures last week to tweak the system, which apparently resolved the problem.

But to prevent future problems, Britton said the company is working with its computer supplier, Sun Microsystems, to figure out what went wrong. It also started adding additional capacity Sunday night so it could handle even greater volumes of messages. E-mail Todd Wallack at todd@sfgate.com. )2000 San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/04/04/BU34890.DTL&type=business

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-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), April 04, 2000