TelEm Group technicians are experiencing problems in connecting residential and business lines in the Philipsburg area as of noon today.
The affected lines are part of the final batch of 2000 subscriber lines being transferred to the company’s new CS2K softswitch.
Technicians have reported that due to some programming issues, some of the disconnected numbers are not responding to programming instructions as planned, therefore alternative measures have to be taken to reconnect customer lines.
The affected lines are spread out throughout the Philipsburg area and are not confined to any one area.
Services affected are landlines, internet service, credit card checking.
Technicians are working diligently to identify the problems and to reconnect customer lines within the next two hours.
The reported problems began shortly after the start of the cutover operation Wednesday and has continued into today, Friday.
Among the customers affected have been the Windward Islands Bank, the law firm HBN, Caribbean Liquors and Tobacco and Internet Service Provider, Caribserve.
"We apologize to all these customers for the interruption in service and for the effect this is having on their customers," said Chief Technical Officer, Mr. Eldert Louisa.