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by Anton Nonis

Constant jamming of access to mobile phones from landlines, has irked phone users, with many of them questioning whether it is being done deliberately to discourage users of certain GSM connections. The jamming, which gets explained as congestion, are especially prevalent during off-peak hours in the mornings, evenings and late nights when the rates are low for calls.

Telecommunication officials dismissed such concerns, claiming the problem to be `congestion' rather than jamming. However, they admitted that if the congestion was between two different operators, it could be for some other reason.

Chief engineer (Colombo Central) of Sri Lanka Telecom, B. Yogendran, explaining that the circuits are usually congested during peak hours, said that it was only a temporary obstacle which lasted for about two hours or so in the mornings and evenings. He said the congestion at night was mostly due to many of the subscribers trying to make use of the `low cost' facilities set for the night.

According to Lanka Communication Services (Pvt) Ltd., Managing Director, Rohith Udalagama, the main cause of the jamming of mobile phones is the shortage of intercommunication facilities installed by the operators.

The mobile phone system was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1991 with a few subscribers. However, at present, there is an estimated number of two million subscribers, being handled by around 75 operators. According to Udalagama, the External Gateway Operators(EGO) tops the list with 32 operators followed by the Internet with around 30.

According to Telecommunication engineers, the growth of the subscriber population requires a relative increase in the intercommunication facilities, but that has not taken place accordingly. The engineers opined that the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) should evolve measures to create more intercommunication facilities for the operators, to overcome the existing communication problems.

Telecommunication officials said that if the problem was between two subscribers coming under the same operator, it could be due to congestion, but if it was between two different operators, it would be due to the lack of intercommunication facilities.

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