Menu Search Account

LegiStorm

Get LegiStorm App Visit Product Demo Website
» Get LegiStorm App
» Get LegiStorm Pro Free Demo

Telecommunications: Interruptions of Telephone Service

  Premium   Download PDF Now (40 pages)
Report Type Reports and Testimonies
Report Date March 5, 1993
Report No. RCED-93-79FS
Subject
Summary:

In the fall of 1991, a long-distance carrier suffered a massive outage that cut off most long-distance communications to and from New York City. Particularly disturbing was a disruption in the region's air traffic control system, which depends on telephone lines for voice and data transmission. GAO found that more than 1,000 such outages occurred during 1990 and 1991, affecting upwards of 69 million customers. Discounting an ice storm that lasted two weeks, the average duration of the outages was 3.3 hours; about half of the outages occurred between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Local telephone companies experienced about 80 percent of these outages; they said that hardware problems, such as computer failure, and software problems, such as programming errors, were the main culprits. Long-distance companies said that cable cuts were the main reason for their disruptions.

« Return to search Government Accountability Office reports