KARACHI, Dec 7: The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has decided to close its inland operator-assisted service from coming Sunday, after which no services accessible through 109, 103, and 105 will be available to subscribers.
In a communiqué issued here on Thursday, a PTCL spokesman said that in the wake of drastic technological advancements in telecom industry, a range of new technologies or services had emerged in recent years while some of the old ones were losing their significance and their use was on the decline.
“Operator-assisted call (offered through digital switch boards) is also losing its popularity due to the widespread availability of better substitute like calling card. The PTCL has enabled all its subscribers with NWD and ISD facility (with code barring) eliminating the need for operator assistance for making long distance calls,” he said.
The spokesman admitted the PTCL was facing problems in getting the equipment, as well as the technical support equipment manufacturers as they had already shifted their focus to newer technologies.
He said the PTCL valued its subscribers’ confidence and would continue serving them with same spirit, besides providing them with cost-effective and state-of-the-art services.
In another statement, the spokesman said that the PTCL rectified 3,000 telephone lines disturbed due to the major network damage caused by various civic agencies in the jurisdictions of Site, Defence, Landhi, Korangi and Clifton Exchanges during the last few days and claimed Rs3.1 million in damages from the civic agencies responsible for the damage.
He quoted General Manager STR-II Qazi Qamaruddin as saying here on Thursday that due to the ongoing work on various development projects, the PTCL’s underground network, especially Optical Fiber Network, had sustained damage that resulted in termination of telecommunication services in certain areas. While it causing nuisance to valued customers, the PTCL also sustained financial losses.
“At present, PTCL has to incur a Rs3.1 million loss due to the damage caused by various civic agencies due to excavation for development projects. The Optical Fiber Network in various areas was damaged, affecting almost 3,200 telephone lines”, Mr Qazi maintained.
