WASHINGTON-Telecommunications networks are expected to pass the coming of the new
millennium without catching the dreaded millennium bug, said a group representing local exchange carriers and a
congressional report last week. While other areas of the national economy, such as health care, may still be in jeopardy
in fewer than 300 days, telecom networks are not expected to fail.
The Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000
Technology Problem released its interim report that found some contingency planning should begin but wide-spread
disruption will not occur. “We will have a bump in the road, but it will not be crippling … We do not expect that
this country will be crippled,” said Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah), chairman of the special committee.
The
millennium bug could cause problems similar to the ones experienced last year when the Galaxy IV satellite glitch
occurred, said the special committee in its report. “When Galaxy IV disconnected 40 million people from their
pagers, the effect was felt strongly throughout the economy, including health care, which could not page critical
personnel. While these failures were not Y2K related, some think they are indicative of the types of inconveniences that
may result from the millennium rollover,” said the report titled, “Investigating the Impact of the Year 2000
Problem.”
The report praised the leadership of FCC Commissioner Michael Powell, who has been spear-
heading efforts for the Federal Communications Commission. “In his role as the FCC defense commissioner,
[Powell] began an aggressive Y2K awareness outreach to the industry,” says the report.
The release of the
report was only one of a myriad of happenings last week in the Senate as constituents try to combat the millennium
bug. The Senate spent all of March 2 on Y2K-related events. The day before that, the Senate Judiciary Committee held
a hearing on a bill by its chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and on March 3 the Senate Commerce Committee
passed on a party-line vote for a bill by its chairman, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
The Senate Y2K day gave
senators the opportunity in the morning to be briefed on national security and international issues. “We can’t give
absolute specificity … terrorists usually act in an [uncertain] situation. We have no specific intelligence that any
terrorists are planning specific activities,” Bennett said.
The afternoon of Senate Y2K day was spent debating
and passing a special Y2K loan program for small businesses.
The Hatch bill was criticized by the Clinton
administration as having the potential to complicate Y2K disputes and leave aggrieved parties without remedy. Known
as The Year 2000 Fairness and Responsibility Act, the Hatch bill is favored by the The Year 2000 Coalition and
opposed by the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
The Personal Communications Industry Association
announced on March 2 it had joined The Year 2000 Coalition. “PCIA supports the coalition’s efforts to cap the
potential surge of opportunists who could create a quagmire of unfounded litigation for the wireless industry and other
businesses across the nation,” said Mary McDermott, PCIA senior vice president and chief of staff for
government relations.
The McCain bill caused much consternation in the Commerce Committee. The bill will
replace “fundamental contract law … the fact that some [businesses] have worried about quarterly earnings and
stock options instead of worrying about their customers is no reason to give them a get-out-of-jail-free card,” said
Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), ranking Democrat.
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) told reporters on March 2 that the
Hatch and McCain bills would be merged, but McCain told reporters on March 3 that he had not seen the Hatch bill
and it would be his bill that would be debated on the Senate floor. This debate is expected in the next six weeks, said a
spokesman in Majority Leader Trent Lott’s (R-Miss.) office.
While the Senate Commerce Committee was busy
debating whether the millennium bug is something to be feared and remedied, the Telco Year 2000 Forum was
releasing results of testing of the public switched telephone network. All calls, including wireless, at some point travel
over the PSTN so if it goes down, the entire industry goes down.
“After six months of interoperability testing,
we remain confident that dialtone will be available on Jan. 1, 2000. The findings from our testing help us support the
initial expectations of our members and principal suppliers-that voice and data call processing will continue without
significant disruptions during the transition,” said Gene Chiappetta, chairman of the Telco Year 2000
Forum.
The Forum developed testing strategies for key elements that provide services in the local
telecommunications network. The testing took place in 20 laboratory environments to simulate network activity and
show how it might be impacted by the year 2000.
