P.O. disputes $500,000 loss of tapes

Press, 12 April 1978, Page 3

P.O. disputes $500,000 loss of tapes

PA Wellington The Post Office may lose up to $500,000 because of the disappearance of five computer tapes containing billing information for recently placed toll calls from Christchurch. An informed source in the department said yesterday that there could be $lOO,OOO in lost revenue on each of the tapes, which disappeared last Friday from the Post Office’s computer centre. The source said revenue on similar tapes varied from $50,000 to $lOO,OOO. But a Post Office spokesman, Mr T. Martindale, said the information was not correct “The value of the losl tapes might be as high as $90,000, but $500,000 is not correct” he said. The tapes have been described as being about the size of large soundrecorder tapes, or house-

hold plates, with marking identifying them as computer tapes. They are in clear plastic containers about 1.75 cm thick. Mr Martindale said the tapes covered from March 31 to April 4 inclusive and were for S.T.D. (selfdialling service calls) originating in Christchurch. He said data for toll charges was automatically recorded on magnetic tapes. The process began when someone dialled O for an S.T.D. call. The magnetic tapes were then processed on the Post Office computer, which produced the toll invoices. No other copies of the tapes were available because they had been lost before copy processing. The revenue on them, if they were not recovered, would be lost. “But we are making an extensive search for them,” Mr Martindale said.