Daylight savings glitch causes havoc

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This was published 15 years ago

Daylight savings glitch causes havoc

By Jamie Waterhouse

The millennium bug may have been a dud, but the daylight savings glitch has struck - yet again.

Telstra denies it was responsible for an electronic hiccup that caused havoc yesterday across the country when mobile phones, BlackBerries and other personal digital assistants changed their internal clocks a week early, leaving countless people an hour late.

Have you been affected by the glitch? Email us at scoop@theage.com.au

A Telstra spokesman said the company was blameless. He said many devices had "factory software settings" that did not always detect that daylight savings had been extended to the first Sunday in April and overrode Telstra's network settings.

The telco's product management executive director, Ross Fielding, even posted a warning on Friday, telling people to check their phones.

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Several Age readers  found themselves in a rush after clocks on mobiles from varying networks were reset yesterday morning.

Melbourne resident Joel Williams and his partner Leah Newey found themselves $50 short after being forced to switch her 6.30am flight  when their Nokia alarm went off an hour late.

Missing her Sydney flight by only five minutes, the Bairnsdale women also forgot to grab paperwork and other important items in  her haste to reach the airport.

"If Telstra knew this was going to happen then should've SMSd warning people to be careful of this rather than the junk messages they send," Mr Williams said.

Rory Grace, the president of the Northbridge Football Club in North Sydney, said he had been "BlackBerried".

He had set his PDA for 6.45am, so he could have the goal posts up at his local oval for kick-off at 8am.

After being woken by the alarm, his wife, Liz, checked her watch and realised it was lmost 8am.

Mr Grace arrived on the heels of another father who was late, thanks to a mobile phone prematurely winding back the time.

"The whole morning got shunted back," said Mr Grace, estimating 600 children had their games delayed.

At 6.20am another Sydney resident was woken by a phone call. The taxi she had booked the night before to take her to the airport for her Melbourne flight was approaching.

Her mobile phone showed it was only 5.20am. "I ran into the kitchen. Both the clock and the microwave said it was 6.20. I got to the airport just in time, just as the plane was boarding."

A Telstra operator confirmed the glitch was widespread.

The same problem last year affected digital equipment and even caused the clocks at Sydney's Central Station to run an hour behind.

A Three representative said the teleco was not at fault and that the phone  manufacturers were to blame.

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