Mobile phone firms in bid to avoid network congestion

The two mobile phone companies are gearing up to cope with the overwhelming increase in network traffic expected on Sunday, as news of the election result starts coming in.

Vodafone and Go Mobile will be monitoring the SMS system in an attempt to avoid a repetition of the disruptions experienced on March 9, the day of the referendum result. A large number of mobile phone users were frustrated as they sought to obtain information or relay news - only to find that the system was temporarily disabled.

When contacted yesterday, spokesmen for both Go Mobile and Vodafone downplayed the problems experienced on the day, when there was an extremely high increase in traffic.

Vodafone marketing manager Simon Mizzi said there were no problems with the Vodafone network on March 9. Due to the abnormally high volume of text messages and voice calls on that day, "minimal congestion" had been created for a short period of time, he said.

However, on Sunday, from noon onwards, Vodafone will be temporarily disabling SMS delivery confirmation messages and voicemail notification until the expected traffic increase subsides.

Asked whether anything could be done to improve the situation around the Ta' Qali counting hall, where the major problems are normally encountered, Mr Mizzi explained that Vodafone had set up additional temporary sites in the vicinity to increase the capacity and handle the extra load in that area. This was also the case during the referendum.

Go Mobile media relations executive Franco Aloisio said the level of traffic handled on March 9 exceeded "by far" the normal levels. Despite this extraordinary load, the Go Mobile network coped reasonably well, he said.

Evidently, the high volume of traffic meant that the quality of service was affected negatively in specific locations and for a limited period of time, Mr Aloisio added.

"The quality of service is also affected by the level of performance of other local networks. Therefore, a Go Mobile customer could have encountered problems that are not in the control of Go Mobile, but are a result of the service provided by other networks."

For this Sunday, Go Mobile would be constantly monitoring SMS traffic and should the system be overloaded it too would switch off the delivery report system, Mr Aloisio said.

Prior to March 9, a record number of text messages had been sent on the last New Year's Eve as mobile phone users turned to modern technology to relay their festive greetings.

According to a comprehensive survey carried out by the National Statistics Office, over three quarters of the population own a mobile phone.