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NMI offline for 2 hours
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Posted on Sep 06 2005
Verizon Micronesia said its main power switch in Susupe bogged down Monday night, temporarily interrupting communication lines in the entire Commonwealth for about two hours.
The problem also affected communication services by other local providers.
Veizon controller Lawrence P. Knecht said yesterday that an electrical problem affected the company’s landlines and wireless services.
Knecht said the cause of the power problem is still being investigated but he believes that the problem was not deliberately caused.
Communication lines bogged down at about 8pm Monday. Knecht said Verizon fully restored its services after about two hours.
iConnect, which provides two-way radio communication services, also had interrupted services Monday night, according to its general manager, Manny Andaya.
“There was no problem in our system,” clarified Andaya. “The problem came from Verizon and it affected our system.”
Andaya said iConnect utilizes some of Verizon’s facilities as link to its covered sites.
Inquiries made with Verizon about the company’s service interruption resulted in different explanations, according to Andaya, but said they all pertain to power interruption at Verizon’s Susupe facility. “I’m not getting the real picture,” he said.
Andaya said I-Connect revived radio services after about an hour.
The Verizon system failure did not fully affect I-Connect’s affiliate company, cellular services provider I-Can, which uses GSM technology. Andaya said calls between I-Can cellular phones continued despite the islandwide communication loss.
Radio reports Monday night said that the breakdown also affected the telecommunications services of SaipanCell, IT&E, and Hafatel. Messages left with these companies were not returned as of press time.
An aircraft headed to Guam Monday night had to divert back to the Saipan International Airport since the flight reportedly could not communicate with the airport tower at the A.B. Won Pat Guam International Airport. The flight, however, took off again for Guam later that night.
Verizon is in the process of being acquired from Micronesian Telecommunications Corp. by Pacific Telecom, Inc.
