Internet traffic slows, phone lines overloaded

NEW YORK, SEPT. 11. Internet traffic slowed and major news web sites were jammed on Tuesday as people searching for details on the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks went online.

The smashed twin Trade towers, which symbolized New York's financial prowess, also housed equipment and antennas that transmitted millions of telephone calls each day. The damage and an unprecedented volume of calls overwhelmed an already strained telecommunications system, cutting off much of the city's phone system.

On the Internet, the search engine Google directed news seekers to radio and television. ``Many online news services are not available, because of extremely high demand,'' a statement read on the popular site's home page. America Online's Instant Messenger service in New York was sporadic. AOL's dial-up connections were constantly busy, but the service was reachable through long-distance calls to Chicago.

MSNBC.com, the most popular news site on the Web, was operating without problems. Technicians removed graphics from the site to allow users to access the news faster, said spokesman, Mr. Ben Billingsley.

Keynote Systems Inc., which measures Internet performance, said it did not find any widespread problems with the Internet's main trunk lines. Keynote spokeswoman, Ms. Mary Lindsay, expected to confirm regional outages as the company continued its analyses.

- AP

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Section  : International
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