Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: Chinese communication industry lost $960 million in quake

Chinese communication industry lost $960 million in quake
================================================================================
newsbyte on 30 May, 2008 02:31:42
 
China's communication industry has lost 6.72 billion yuan ($960 million) in the
devastating May 12 quake that jolted the southwestern province of Sichuan, the
country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Friday.
On Thursday, officials said that eight employees of local telecom companies in
the quake-hit Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces had been confirmed dead,
while many are injured or missing.
A total of 3,897 telecom outlets in the quake zone had reported losses. The
quake has damaged 28,714 mobile communication base stations. Cable and telegraph
poles were damaged.
The call volumes after the quake had been 10 times the normal level in Sichuan
and had caused congestion in the network, an official said.
The ministry has urged the telecom companies to ensure communications in the
quake-hit zones and requested users to make short calls before all the lines are
restored.