DOHA: Subscribers using Qtel's Hala pre-paid service, are experiencing minor problems while making calls to other Hala subscribers over the last few days.
Due to the glitch, Hala users are unable to contact other pre-paid customers using their mobile phones. Often, those who call from land-lines to Hala numbers also get the pre-recorded message which states that the number cannot be contacted now or, a continuous busy tone, even when the phone is within the GSM coverage area and not in use. Hala users said that the problem is more pronounced during the peak, morning and evening hours, when most people are outdoors and have to rely on their mobile phones to make and receive calls.
A senior official at Qtel's GSM engineering section conceded that a technical flaw in the Qatarnet's Intelligent Network had occurred, as a result of which Hala users were facing the problem. He pointed out that all Hala calls pass through the IN platform and hence, sometimes such subscribers were facing an outage of service. He however emphasised that the snag had been fixed over the weekend and hence, no more outage of service would be faced by Hala users.
Meanwhile, Qtel's Customer Service Centres are reporting brisk sales of the Hala Talk and Hala Plus cards, which are being offered at a 40 per cent discount under a month-long promotion that concludes on August 15.
© The Peninsula 2004
