Computer glitch gives free calls
Hundreds of people have scrambled to buy pre-paid $160 Orange mobile phone cards that unexpectedly gave them extra hours of free talk time because of a computer glitch in Hutchison Telecom's telephone network.
The free-for-all, which allowed Orange roaming and IDD SIM card holders to make unpaid calls around the world from Friday night to Monday morning, has since been fixed.
Customer Mohan Harshan told the South China Morning Post he alerted the company to the problem, but a Hutchison Telecom spokeswoman said its network maintenance centre had already detected the incident.
Mr Harshan said one person he knew was on the line for 7.5 hours and he had witnessed 'hundreds of Indians and Pakistanis' taking advantage of the free talk time in Tsim Sha Tsui and Jordan.
The pre-paid SIM card normally allows users to make a 15-minute call for $100 to India, Mr Harshan said.
People from India, Pakistan and the Philippines often pay more for their calls, with rates ranging from $12 a minute for India and Pakistan to $7.80 for the Philippines.
Those from the US, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom can pick and choose from companies constantly offering free rates or calls costing around 38 cents a minute.
'People were making phone calls in MTR stations where the signal is the strongest and then walking outside to continue the call,' Mr Harshan said. 'The SIM cards [usually sold by 7-Eleven stores and money exchangers] were selling like hot cakes. One hawker got them wholesale and brought them down to the MTR station where he sold out.'
The Hutchison Telecom spokeswoman described the loss in revenue as 'very minimal'.
'We were undergoing a software upgrade in our network which caused some small files to be corrupted,' she said. 'We have quickly fixed it but are still investigating the incident.'
Mr Harshan said the company had asked him to play down the incident if he was contacted by the media. 'They said if there's anybody getting in touch, make it clear there's nothing to speak about.'
