September 8, 1999

 

 

NTT Communications Corporation will conduct a Y2K countermeasure verification test tomorrow, a date that allegedly could cause certain computer systems to stop due to the occurrence of four consecutive "9s" in "9.9.99."

The test will be conducted to verify that the date will not cause their computer systems to stop, and to test the various countermeasure systems that the companies plan to implement at the end of this year. NTT Communications has been implementing countermeasures for the Y2K problem in cooperation with NTT Holding Company and NTT West and East corporations.

NTT Communications is taking all possible measures to ensure that nothing will go wrong around the year end, when the risk of Y2K problems occurring is thought to be most high. During this period, NTT Communications will maintain a Y2K countermeasures headquarters under the direction of the president in order to deal with any problem as soon as possible. A similar headquarters will be maintained for tomorrow’s test as part of verifying the company's Y2K action plan, which will include confirming the operation of all network services, including significant operational systems, and carrying out emergency communication and related activities.


Concrete Measures

The information headquarters will be established in NTT Communication's main office and information offices will be established within the countermeasures group of each division to accumulate the results of various inspections. Also, company-wide training will be conducted to teach employees how to quickly discover and deal with Y2K problems, including emergency communications, alternative methods of conducting operations and information sharing for recovering from system failures and dealing with customers.
As for the divisions providing solutions for corporate users, NTT Communications will confirm whether problems have occurred in their communication systems and, in cooperation with customers, confirm how to handle possible failures in their communication systems.

NTT Communications expects the trial to help it perfect its action plan for the year end.


Y2K Action Plan Status and Future Plans

NTT Communications has already implemented a wide range of Y2K countermeasures in cooperation with NTT Holding Company and NTT East and NTT West corporations. By the end of this June, the company had already completed system countermeasures including software modifications, simulations and contingency plan formation. Customer communication systems have been checked for possible problems, and for those systems requiring further countermeasures, customers have been notified and steps are being taken to implement necessary countermeasures.

Other steps being taken at present include the implementation of countermeasures for systems supplied to customers, evaluations by outside specialists of countermeasures mainly for key telecommunication service systems, and tests of connections with other telecom operators. Additional contingency plans will be introduced by the end of this month.

The Y2K countermeasure headquarters to be maintained under president's guidance on December 31 and January 1, 2000, when the Y2K risk is highest, will supervise services and deal with unexpected occurrences. Throughout the New Year holidays, staff in the divisions that deal with trouble will be on hand on approximately the same scale as on normal business days to answer questions from customers about various telecommunications services. In addition, a special desk will be set up to handle inquires from corporate customers who are using NTT Communications-supplied communication systems. The desk will deal with Y2K-related problems from December 31 to January 4.



Go into details
http://www.ntt.co.jp/y2k/e/index-e.html