M A I N   N E W S

STD links still erratic
French experts fail to detect snag
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, Aug 18 — Frantic e-mails by the local Telecom Department to Alcatel Telecom Headquarters in France — suppliers of the digital trunk exchange (D-TAX) which has developed a major snag in Chandigarh — to seek help have not yielded much of a result. It is just like failed attempts by local residents to dial outstation numbers in the past one week.

STD and international telecom links from Chandigarh to other places continue to be erratic as the D-TAX, which routes all incoming and outgoing calls, is still functioning intermittently in an off-and-on manner much to the chagrin of subscribers. The “off” period duration is much more than the ‘’on ‘’ period duration.

To top it all, sources say, the Alcatel company, never divulged the secret of correcting specialised or unexpected software errors, if any, to local engineers. This has made the local men absolutely dependent upon the company, thus requiring direct communication with France. Small faults are rectified at local levels. Even the Alcatel representatives, who arrived yesterday, have not been able to pinpoint the fault as thousands of subscribers continue to suffer and lose business as well as social contact with relatives and friends.

Those wanting to make urgent phone calls are travelling up to Ambala, 50 km away, in cars or by buses to make calls to their near and dear ones abroad or in other cities in India. The worst sufferers are the online banks, the insurance sector and the media where a lot of outstation communication is required and generated.

Even now the working of the D-TAX is not stable but is intermittent, meaning it works for a while and then, on its own, stops functioning and all STD and international links are immediately snapped. Today was the seventh day of the problem that has cut Chandigarh, Panchkula, S.A.S. Nagar and surrounding villages from the rest of the world.

The mystery as to why the software stops accepting STD or international calls is yet to be known. Actually sources says the first indications came around 45 days ago when the voice on STD calls were accompanied by a jarring sound at times. Some regular STD subscribers complained and engineers checked up the links between exchanges and the D-TAX and found them to be alright. The latest problem could have been a manifestation of the same, say sources while adding that the software could have been corrupted since then only and this has snowballed into something bigger now.

DoT may fine Alcatel

CHANDIGARH: (TNS) The local telecom department may be imposing some kind of a fine on Alcatel, the equipment supplier, for the losses it has incurred. There is a set formula for fines laid down by the Department of Telecom (DoT) in such cases, said a senior official. However, the clause of the agreement needs to be studied as to what the department can claim besides the proper functioning of the equipment which was installed less than a year ago.