WELLINGTON - There may be trouble with telecommunications at midnight on December 31 but the problem is more likely to be congestion than a Y2K computer bug.
The executive director of the Information Technology Association, Tony Tait, speaking on behalf of Saturn, Clear, Telecom and Telstra, said traffic on New Zealand'slocal and toll networks was expected to be exceptionally high as the clocks ticked over to 2000.
"Christmas and New Year are always busy but traffic levels will be higher than normal this year ... Some people will test their voice and data services to be absolutely certain they are working immediately after New Year's Eve," he said.
New Zealand's main telecommunication companies had made a huge investment of time and money to make sure their networks were Y2K-compliant, he said.
"If there are problems making calls, it will most likely be because of temporary congestion, not because of Y2K-related technical issues." Mr Tait said there were two simple and practical steps that New Zealanders could take to ensure a smooth transition to 2000.
"The first is not to try and make that New Year call right on the stroke of midnight. Instead we would suggest calling earlier on New Year's Eve or later on New Year's Day," he said.
"The other ... is to take a breather, if at all possible, if they experience overloading. The telecommunications companies have ways of managing traffic so that any overloading is cleared as quickly as possible. However, one of the quickest and most effective ways to ease congestion is for the customer to wait a while before trying again."
Mr Tait said telecommunications companies would be working hard to minimise potential disruption.
"Their aim is to make sure everyone has a great and hassle-free New Year. They are just calling on their customers to help make this happen." - NZPA
