----- Original Message ----- From: David Lesher <wb8foz@nrk.com> To: nanog list <nanog@merit.edu> Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 1999 9:22 PM Subject: Re: Perceived Y2K problems
Unnamed Administration sources reported that Eric Germann said:
Specifically, I was discussing with one of my telco guys about the sociological effects, namely, everyone watching the ball drop, then
going
off hook to see if they have dial tone, or dialing in to the Internet to see if it still works. Since most switches aren't designed for 100% off hook load, anyone seen any studies as to whether the switches will crash from that?
I strongly doubt it. A telco switch is designed to tolerate extreme abuse without dying. What it WILL do is deny dial tone to folks it can not handle, or delay it until it can. Further, it will reject incoming calls as necessary to survive.
Exactly. Everything will work as it should, and lots of people will get dead phone lines because all of the dialtones will be used up. I read somewhere that telcos plan on about 10% active usage. Anybody know for sure? What it all boils down to is that ISPs like mine will get flooded with tech calls (assuming the customer gets a dialtone for the tech support call) asking why *our* system is broken. We can explain it, of course, but that won't stop them from being skeptical, to say the least. The best we can hope for is the customers believing us as we pass the buck. What a mess.
Trivia: the independent Federal Telecommunications System [FTS] sprang up from the Cuban Missile Crisis, where it's said JFK could not get dialtone at the height of the shitinthefan. It was dedicated switches in diverse locales. Now it's all software-defined additions to the ordinary switches. I'm not reassured.
;-) Wasn't there a similar incident with Jon Bon Jovi a few years back? - Steve