KPNQwest blockade to save e-mail
By Jonathan Lambeth  (Filed: 07/06/2002)

Hundreds of sacked staff of KPNQwest, the Dutch telecoms company that has filed for bankruptcy protection, are occupying a key operations centre in an attempt to stop a European internet crash.

All of the 350 staff at the Ebone network operations centre in Hoeilaart, south east of Brussels in Belgium, were fired earlier this week by the administrators, who plan to let it run unmaintained. This follows the freezing of KPNQwest's remaining funds by its banks.

Around 300 staff, alongside union officials, have defied administrators and are taking shifts unpaid to keep the centre fully operational while there are further negotiations. They have blockaded themselves in and stocked up on provisions for the occupation.

Many are concerned that untended the massive Ebone European internet network will quickly degrade, causing serious problems for a large number of KPNQwest's 100,000 business customers and, as a consequence, many internet users across Europe.

Graham Kinsey, who works at the centre, said: "If we leave, then in three to five days there will be the largest internet slowdown in European history. The Ebone network failing would be like four lanes of the M25 being closed.

He added: "The administrators have just driven off in their BMW M5s and they are threatening to send in the police to force us to leave.

"But the Belgian union officials have told us that if the police come we should just lie on the floor, Greenpeace style, and they will not intervene."

Experts said degradation of the Ebone and KPNQwest networks could cause serious internet problems, particularly at key bottlenecks.

KPNQwest's telecoms infrastructure covers 25,000km and 60 cities around Europe, including the Ebone network it acquired in March. It is estimated that the company carries between one third and one half of all European internet traffic.

While large parts of KPNQwest's network are still operational under the control of the administrators, it has already warned its thousands of customers, including Microsoft, Cable & Wireless and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, that they should prepare contingency plans.

So dire is KPNQwest's financial position that the administrators are closing facilities and attempting to sell off "non critical" assets piecemeal as fast as possible under the orders of its banks. Potential buyers, such as AT&T, have so far failed to bite.

Hugh Wilson, group managing director at Colt Telecom, said his company had gained many millions of pounds of new business in the past few days but that the sudden and unexpected problems at KPNQwest was catching people unawares.

He added: "A number of KPNQwest's corporate customers don't seem to regard this as a very urgent situation.

"They don't seem to realise that these networks could be switched off soon and that would hurt their businesses.'

Cable & Wireless admitted it could be affected by KPNQwest's crash. A spokesman said it was trying to improve resilience for as many of the affected telecoms routes as possible.