I would encourage anyone who does not need to make a long distance call to refrain from it. The terrible disaster in N.Y. has put an enormous strain on the long distance network. For a good part of the day yesterday all switches except Honolulu were running at 100% capacity. Although there have not been any disruptions in the network, a sustained high volume is hazardous to the network.
The following is a snippet from a corporate email sent out to Sprint by the CEO Bill Esrey:
Sprint is currently working to increase capacity for both wireline and
wireless communications to the affected areas of New York City and
Washington, D.C. We also are shipping Sprint PCS Phones to New York and
Washington to assist citizens in those areas, and our PCS stores there
are offering free emergency calling. We are asking our customers – and
all of you – to refrain from using PCS and wireline phones in making
calls to the affected areas unless it’s for an emergency to minimize
calling capacity problems.
Our Sprint and Sprint PCS networks are operational. Calls from New York
City and Washington, D.C., are getting through successfully. However,
because of the enormous volume of calls into these areas, many calls in
these areas are being blocked to ensure the completion of emergency
services calls.
To preserve bandwidth and our ability to conduct essential business, we
are asking associates to refrain from accessing the Internet to read
news about the terrorist attacks. Instead, look to PinPoint for timely
external news updates and company messages.
My thoughts go out to those affected. This is truly a sad situation.
Zippatuh
