The action force held a meeting here on Monday to review the progress in the telecom sector. The meeting was presided over by Planning Commission deputy chairman KC Pant.

The review indicated that the telecom networks of DoT and VSNL were expected to be Y2K compliant by September. MTNL, which runs telecom services in Delhi and Mumbai, was already compliant. PSUs manufacturing equipment and supplying services like ITI Ltd, HTL and TCIL were also Y2K compliant.

At the meeting, it was disclosed that in the telecom sector, solution packages for both hardware and software problems had been finalised and were in place. All systems, including the round segment of earth stations, were expected to be fully Y2K compliant by November.

It wasclaimed that that except for a small segment of ground systems of the satellite network, which would be compliant by November, all other systems would be compliant by October. This means that telephones and other telecom systems are expected to provide normal services at the dawn of the new millennium.

To ensure fool-proof compliance, a three-stage certification process is being followed. The certification of Y2K compliance from all vendors of telecom equipment has already been obtained by DoT. The second stage involves identification and certification by the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), the apex independent body for verification of telecom equipment standards in the country.

More than 90 per cent of systems and solutions have been certified to be compliant by TEC. This would be followed by certification by implementing agencies. End-to-end testing of the entire telecom network, including that of VSNL, would be completed by September.

DoT has also been monitoring the preparedness of privateoperators. As part of the strategy to ensure full compliance by November, a Y2K compliance clause has been inserted in the new licences issued by the government.

To keep the public updated on Y2K preparedness, information has been provided on the two websites -- www.dotindia.com and www.vsnl.net.in.

To take care of any eventuality, a national control room would be set up on December 29 in Delhi and would be in place till January 2, 2000. Similar control rooms would be set up in state capitals and district headquarters.