RESIDENTS of the Shwe Hti housing project in Mayangone township are still waiting for long-promised phone service after signing contracts for the installation of a private automated branch exchange (PABX) system by the Fisca company.

One resident said the company was contracted on January 17, 2004, to install a PABX system, for which each person with an extension would be charged K385,000.

The 171 people who signed up each paid the first instalment of K50,000 on January 20, 2004.

“But now the company says the PABX system is outdated so they want to refund the K50,000 and sign new contracts for an E1 phone system,” he said. “But the new system would cost about K850,000, which some people can’t afford to pay.”

The PABX system uses a switchboard to route calls to and from residents, who each have their own extension number. The capacity to handle outgoing calls is limited, so only a low number of such calls can be handled at the same time.

With the E1 system, customers each get their own number rather than an extension, so incoming and outgoing calls are direct and do not have to be routed through a switchboard. Also, there is no limit on the number of calls that can be made at the same time through the system.

“We just want to have phone service, whether it’s E1 or PABX. Now we have no phone numbers to give out to people to contact us, and if we need to contact someone at our home we can’t do that either,” the resident said.

For now, there are only three phone lines shared by everyone at Shwe Hti.
“Sometimes a person answers the phone and by the time they have notified the person the call is for the line has gone dead,” said another resident, adding that tenants had considered two other companies for phone service but had chosen Fisca because it was the biggest and most well known.

The general manager of Fisca’s marketing department explained that the length of time required to provide phone service depends on the communication infrastructure in the area where service is to be installed.

“Shwe Hti lines have to connect to the Bayintnaung exchange, which right now has no more capacity for phone lines,” he said. “The people at Bayintnaung said they could add more lines if we helped them modernise their equipment, which we agreed to do but the equipment must be imported and this takes time.”

Earlier this month Fisca invited members of Shwe Hti’s phone committee to a meeting to discuss installation of an E1 system.

“We explained the difference between the PABX and E1 systems and talked about options for installation plans,” he said.

“The company is adaptable if people want their money back. We will return the deposits for the PABX system and work with those who want the E1 system,” he said.