NAWABSHAH, May 20: The telephone network in Nawabshah region collapsed on Monday after several days of widespread faults in telephone lines and a variety of complaints from subscribers. Efforts were underway to detect the actual problem.

The number of complaints rose up suddenly soon after the authorities switched over about 350 telephone lines of government offices from the Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Limited (PTCL) to the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), and seven-digit numbers, starting from ‘937’ were allotted to them, it has been learnt.

The main complaint from the telephones at government offices was dropping of lines every three minutes.

Similar complaints started coming from other subscribers who said their lines continue to drop repeatedly even during the first minute.

PTCL sources told Dawn that the system was being operated from Hyderabad and the switch over plan coincided with the possible privatisation of the corporation.

Following collapse of the system, subscribers complained that no PTCL-NTC or NTC-PTCL line could be dialled throughout the day.

Among the numbers changed included those of Peoples Medical College Hospital, District Police Officer, taluka Nazim and other essential services which are supposed to function round-the-clock and deal with emergencies.

HOSTAGE: Police have so far failed to make any headway in the recovery a cloth merchant, Ghulam Shabbir Lakho, kidnapped on Saturday from near Sarhari Stop, Sakrand.