STORY:
U.S. Phone System Looks Ready For Y2K

A Reuters reports quotes federal regulators as saying the U.S. telecommunications system is unlikely to suffer major outages due to year 2000 computer problems.

The Federal Communications Commission which overseas the fixes says the largest local and long distance carriers will have rid their networks of the so-called millennium bug by the second quarter of 1999. A FCC commissioner says these carriers are expected to be 100 percent ready including having their contingency plans in place which means the vast majority of telephone consumers can expect few, if any, Y2K disruptions.

The FCC has also found no widespread problems with emergency response systems that rely on 911 calls, but systems in many areas use complex computers and could experience some problems which could delay 911 response times.

Small carriers, that altogether serve fewer than one in 10 customers, could have more serious problems, however. FCC officials noted that while large carriers like AT&T Corp. are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to eliminate bugs, smaller carriers have less access to capital.

The FCC has also had difficulty estimating the readiness of wireless carriers because many companies failed to respond to the agency's queries about Y2K issues.

Source: Reuters

DATE: 3/31/99

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