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To: djane who wrote (4550)	5/12/1999 12:05:00 AM
From: djane	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29987

Russia in race to fend off millennium bug By Joanne Taaffe 10 May 1999 The International Telecommunication Union Year 2000 Task Force will hold in July an eleventh-hour meeting with operators in Russia and the former Soviet Republics still struggling with Year 2000 remedial work. The likelihood is that Russia will run out of time before it can make all its billing and network management software Y2K compliant. But factors such as the relative simplicity of Russian telecoms networks; work being undertaken by regional operators; and ITU efforts to help operators prioritize key network equipment are raising expectations that communications in the region will not grind to a halt. The object of the exercise is to "save the most critical parts of networks," said Vishnu Calindi, who is in charge of the ITU's Year 2000 program for developing countries. "My feeling is that it can still be done. There's a tremendous amount of work being done in Russia and in the former Soviet Republics," said Calindi, who added that most of the region's operators have a target of September for completing work that includes Year 2000 compliancy testing of their networks. The Y2K unreadiness of Russian telecoms networks - and supporting infrastructure such as power and water supplies - is not only of concern to the ITU. The European VPN Users Association in March judged Russian telecoms networks to be at serious risk from the Y2K bug. And until recently Russia has done little to allay concerns. "Everyone realizes we have a serious year 2000 problem," said Professor Andrey Terekhov, an adviser to the Russian government, who was in London recently as part of a mission to raise the $3 billion-$5 billion the country says it needs to fix Y2K glitches in all sectors including telecommunications. But Terekhov is adamant that telecoms is one of the least affected of Russia's industries: "Telecoms is the best off. Very good professionals created it and had contingency plans connected with earthquakes ... on the 1st of January the telephone will work." The Russian operators are helped by the lack of intelligence in their networks. Fewer services such as voicemail and call-center technology mean less software and therefore a smaller number of last-minute fixes. It makes the fixes cheaper too. "For these countries it's not going to cost $600 million like AT&T - it's not the same yardstick," Calindi said. Anglo-Dutch oil and petrochemical conglomerate Royal Dutch/Shell Group, which has to maintain communications to 130 countries worldwide including Russia, has few concerns about the basic Russian network infrastructure. "The switching gear will work, as there are no dates in it," said Rob Matthijssen, Year 2000 Program Manager at Shell Services International BV in the Hague, the Netherlands. But even the optimists predict that there will be hiccups. "The problem is with technical maintenance and billing systems - you could be charged for a 100-year phone call. Billing won't be working," said Terekhov. Shell is less concerned by billing - which can be queried and sorted out later - than by the network management systems. "It's always the network management part that will give problems. [This means] the network will not go down but will degrade in a matter of hours or days," said Matthijssen. Shell, however, is busy drawing up contingency plans - including reserving extra satellite capacity from Inmarsat - to ensure it will maintain routes for its most vital means of communication, which are e-mail and some emergency voice services. The company's main data service providers, Equant NV and BT, have shown Shell detailed plans of the steps they have taken to ensure that their networks will be year 2000 compliant. Information : info@total.emap.com URL : totaltele.com © EMAP Media 1999