Bad Telephone Connections Are Like Traffic Jam Caused by Many Travelers in a Narrow Street
“Bad telephone connections, which make the people complain, are not new but a very old issue. However, it has never been seen publicly that the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications has taken any action. According to some sources, the Minister, Mr. So Khun, ignores what the private telephone companies do, because he and even the opposition party that has stopped opposing [= ironic, the Sam Rainsy Party] got ‘poisoned’ by business interests and by the Ministry of Posts. If this is the situation, Khmer people will not meet a harmonious future, and the party which stopped to be an opposition party should not be relied on – it is an impossible situation.
“Telephone companies causing difficulties to their customers is not a new issue, but a very old one, and the relevant ministry knows about it, but nobody cares.
“Khmer people who use telephones complain so much about the difficulties in communicating from one telephone network to another it could rend the sky, which even leads to the useless loss of their telephone fees. However, Mr. So Khun is silent like a stone that make customers think that maybe even Mr. So Khun got poisoned.
“People whose business relies on the telephone say that at present they have serious difficulties to connect from one telephone network to another, especially in the afternoon and in the evening. Sometimes they try to dial almost half an hour to get through, and sometimes they cannot get through but hear only a recorded voice telling the customers, ‘All the lines are busy,’ or ‘The line is busy, you cannot get through.’
“Ohers confirmed that the difficulties in interconnections make the customers lose lots of money. These difficulties push them to use all different telephone networks at the same time, but not many can afford that. They can only appeal to Mr. So Khun, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, to help by making regulations that all telephone companies have to improve the interconnection capacities, so that it is easy for the people to decide which telephone network to use for their business.
“Telephone customers in Cambodia, who use at present the 011, 012, 015, 016, and 092 wireless telephone networks, or the landline system 023, complain that all private telephone companies cannot provide appropriate services, because the interconnections from one telephone network to another are most difficult. Others observe that sometimes the link is established, but the voice is blurred and cannot be understood, unless the customers cancel the calls and then dial once or twice again, until they can get a clear connection. This problem makes customers waste much money in order to contact their partners.
“A hotel staff member told journalists that the hotel is often blamed by its customers because normal communication is unavailable. This makes the hotel also lose customers, because customers cannot phone one hotel; therefore, they contact another one.
“A customer of the 011 network complained that they live in a remote area, they tried to buy a telephone well suited for their communications with relatives, relying on what a commercial presented which appeared to be good. They finally decided to buy a 011 network SIM card. As a result, it is very difficult to dial to the 012 and 092 networks, but it is a bit easier to dial to the 016 network. Some people have to buy three telephones from three networks – i.e. from the 011, 012, and the 016 networks – because their business requires them to communicate with customers in these networks. They have to spend much money for different telephone networks, making them lose a lot of their profit.
“Some customers are angry that they hear the recorded voice saying too often, ‘You are on a waiting system, please do not hang up!’ or ‘You cannot get connected at present.’ The way the companies act violates the customers too much. If the switchboard gateways are too narrow, why do they still have to increase the number of customers? It seems they only want to gain too much profit.
“Ms. Chandy, a staff member of a Siem Reap hotel, said that sometimes the telephone numbers of calls from abroad appear as coming from 011, 012, or 016 systems, but not from the 001 or 007 licensed international gateways. This prompts the question why the international gateway numbers seldom appear to have been used, and therefore calls from abroad appear as local network numbers. This may be caused by telephone network theft, which causes difficulties in communications.
“Concerning these problems, customers are waiting to see which institutions will appear to regulate the private companies that make trouble for Khmer people. Or have they all got poisoned and silenced? Many people wonder about Mr. So Khun, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, who so far has never spoken about these difficulties in the use of telephones, or released an order to deal with this problem at all. It is suspected that Mr. So Khun got poisoned by the companies.
“Ms. Ky Lam Ang’s speech, [Commission on Public Works, Transports, Telecommunications, Posts, Industry, Energy and Trade of the National Assembly – probably 2nd Policy Dialogue on Cambodia’s Competition Policy: Making a Free and Fair Trade] was quoted why the National Assembly should summon Mr. So Khun, the Minister, to explain to the people the difficulties in telephone communications.” Samleng Yuvachun Khmer, Vol.14, #2949, 21-22.1.2007
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Sunday and Monday, 21/22. January 2007
Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.6, #1249, 21-22.1.2007
- Archaeological Areas in Cambodia Are Seriously Destroyed [through excavation for ancient artifacts]
- Wild Woman Longs to Return to Live in Jungle [Ratanakiri]
- Bus Crashes into River: 21 Die and More Than 30 Are Injured [Thailand]
- Sri Lankan Government Troops Capture a Stronghold of Tamil Tiger Rebels
Khmer Amatak, Vol.8, #444, 22.1.2007
- Samdech Euv [Father King] Says Royal Family of the Sisowath Line Wants to Replace Current King
Koh Santepheap, Vol.40, #5946, 22.1.2007
- Samdech Prime Minister Asks France to Help with Rubber Plantations
- Cambodia Cable Television Cooperates with Quang Shi [phonetic] Television of China; Minister Khieu Kanharith Welcomes Media Cooperation
- Phnom Penh Municipality Warns against Fire Crackers during Chinese New Year [18.2.2007]
Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.14, #3068, 22.1.2007
- 3rd Year Anniversary of Murder of Mr. Chea Vichea [head of Cambodian Free Trade Union of Workers, assassinated 22.1.2004]: Mr. Yim Sovann [SRP parliamentarian from Phnom Penh] Demands Government Bring Real Murderers for Punishment by Law
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.15, #4191, 21-22.1.2007
- Mr. Khieu Kanharith [Minister of Information]: Royal Government Makes Gasoline Price Decrease by Allowing Imports of Gasoline
- France Will Increase Aid to Cambodia Up to Euro 120 Million [US$155 million] for Five Years [2006-2010]
- Khmer Krom Monks and People Living in Cambodia Call for Release of [about ten] Khmer Krom Monks Arrested [since 17 and 18 January 2007, after using a video camera, resulting in one arrest, and then after a demonstration demanding the release of the arrested] by Vietnamese Government
- Oknha Dul Phok [a representative of a Khmer Association in the USA] Promises to Build Up to 100 Houses for Ethnic Minority Tribespeople [Kratie]
- 13-Year-Old Boy Drives Car, Causing Accident [he escapes – Prampi Makara, Phnom Penh]
Samleng Yuvachun Khmer, Vol.14, #2949, 21-22.1.2007
- Bad Phone Connections Are Like Traffic Jam Caused by Many Passengers in a Narrow Street
- CPP Prepares to Reveal Corrupt Sam Rainsy Party Officials in Land Disputes in Poipet
Snadai Khmeng Wat, Vol.6, #118, 22.1.2007
- Cambodian People Countrywide Respect and Support Samdech Hun Sen Who Announces New Actions [by increasing number of fuel importig companies] to Reduce Fuel Price
Sralanh Khmer, Vol.3, #311, 21-22.1.2007
- Hun Sen: We Reduce Gasoline Price, but not because of Protest of Those Bad Few Opponents
