Up in flames: PTCL building fire disrupts phone, internet lines
Equipment worth billions damaged; phone, internet and ATM services suspended.
LAHORE:
The telecommunication network was disrupted in several parts of the country after a fire broke out at a Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) building late on Saturday. No casualties were reported.
PTCL officials said 50,000 telephones lines and 25,000 internet connections went dead after equipment worth billions of rupees was damaged.
The exchange on Egerton Road is housed in a five-storey and an eight-storey building. The fire had broken out in the five-storey structure due to an electric short circuit, a Rescue 1122 official said.
Witnesses said the fire had erupted on the fourth floor at around 1.15am.
Jam Sajjad, a spokesman for Rescue 1122, said fire fighters had reached the site within five minutes of receiving a call for help at 1.35am.
He said 16 fire tenders were used to put out the fire. “The fire fighters had extinguished the fire on the fourth and fifth floors in two hours. It flared up again, however, and was brought under control after more than 10 hours,” Sajjad told The Express Tribune. He said eight people were evacuated.
He said the fibre optic cables had made it difficult to put out the fire.
Sajjad said a preliminary investigation indicated that the fire had erupted due to an electric short circuit. He said fire fighters had prevented it from spreading to other floors of the building housing several PTCL offices.
He said the telephone exchange and internet connections were on the fourth and the fifth floors. Generators and UPS equipment were on another floor and remained safe.
Sajjad said the damage would have been a lot less had the PTCL administration adopted appropriate safety measures.
“The building lacked functional fire extinguishers and hydrants. There were also no emergency exits,” he said.
Telephone connections of several police stations; help lines of Edhi (115), the PTCL (1217), Pakistan Railways (117) and the Pakistan International Airlines (114); the Ufone network and internet services of several companies were suspended.
A network of international phone lines was also affected. Routers of many cell-phone service providers were damaged and GPRS services were suspended.
1-link banking system was also shut down after its server on the fifth floor of the PTCL building was destroyed. A large number of ATMs is run on the system.
The PTCL billing system was affected too. More than 20 PTCL exchanges across the province were shut down.
A PTCL official said the extent of damage had yet to be determined.
“The equipment in the building was worth billions of rupees. The losses are in addition to those the PTCL will face due to disruption of services,” said the official who did not wish to be named.
He said the gravity of the situation was not entirely apparent on Sunday. He said the government as well as private businesses would face great difficulties on Monday (today).
He said it would take up to four days to restore the services.
Authorities said they were shifting the equipment to the PTCL exchange in Garden Town and that telephone services in most areas would be restored by late Sunday.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2014.
The telecommunication network was disrupted in several parts of the country after a fire broke out at a Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) building late on Saturday. No casualties were reported.
PTCL officials said 50,000 telephones lines and 25,000 internet connections went dead after equipment worth billions of rupees was damaged.
The exchange on Egerton Road is housed in a five-storey and an eight-storey building. The fire had broken out in the five-storey structure due to an electric short circuit, a Rescue 1122 official said.
Witnesses said the fire had erupted on the fourth floor at around 1.15am.
Jam Sajjad, a spokesman for Rescue 1122, said fire fighters had reached the site within five minutes of receiving a call for help at 1.35am.
He said 16 fire tenders were used to put out the fire. “The fire fighters had extinguished the fire on the fourth and fifth floors in two hours. It flared up again, however, and was brought under control after more than 10 hours,” Sajjad told The Express Tribune. He said eight people were evacuated.
He said the fibre optic cables had made it difficult to put out the fire.
Sajjad said a preliminary investigation indicated that the fire had erupted due to an electric short circuit. He said fire fighters had prevented it from spreading to other floors of the building housing several PTCL offices.
He said the telephone exchange and internet connections were on the fourth and the fifth floors. Generators and UPS equipment were on another floor and remained safe.
Sajjad said the damage would have been a lot less had the PTCL administration adopted appropriate safety measures.
“The building lacked functional fire extinguishers and hydrants. There were also no emergency exits,” he said.
Telephone connections of several police stations; help lines of Edhi (115), the PTCL (1217), Pakistan Railways (117) and the Pakistan International Airlines (114); the Ufone network and internet services of several companies were suspended.
A network of international phone lines was also affected. Routers of many cell-phone service providers were damaged and GPRS services were suspended.
1-link banking system was also shut down after its server on the fifth floor of the PTCL building was destroyed. A large number of ATMs is run on the system.
The PTCL billing system was affected too. More than 20 PTCL exchanges across the province were shut down.
A PTCL official said the extent of damage had yet to be determined.
“The equipment in the building was worth billions of rupees. The losses are in addition to those the PTCL will face due to disruption of services,” said the official who did not wish to be named.
He said the gravity of the situation was not entirely apparent on Sunday. He said the government as well as private businesses would face great difficulties on Monday (today).
He said it would take up to four days to restore the services.
Authorities said they were shifting the equipment to the PTCL exchange in Garden Town and that telephone services in most areas would be restored by late Sunday.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2014.