PLDT assures Y2K readiness

May 4, 1999 PSE CIRCULAR FOR BROKERS NO. 971-99 PRESS RELEASE PLDT assures Y2K readiness PLDT assured the public recently that it is fully prepared for the millennium bug or Y2K. PLDT is on target in its objective to make its services Y2K ready by the end of this year's second quarter," PLDT Executive Vice President Antonio P. Samson said. "A well-organized and well-funded program has been in place as early as mid 1997 to ensure our services continue to operate in the year 2000 including accounting and billing system for both customers and investors," Samson said. Samson said its international gateway exchanges and local basic telephone services are now Y2K ready. PLDT is retiring its analog switches to make the firm fully digital by next year. LLpr PLDT has been conducting intensive remediation and testing work to meet its mid-year 1999 objective. Its dedicated testing environment and infrastructure are being used to accelerate testing. As a parallel activity, testing is also in progress in the test beds of PLDT's major suppliers in various parts of the world, Samson said. The program costs PLDT about $100 million which involves software system, work stations and equipment, among others. PLDT is a founding and active member of the Philippine Telecommunications Year 2000 Forum which facilitates interaction with other local carriers. It is also actively involved in the Presidential Commission on the Year 2000.