Automated teller machines (ATMs) of some banks across the country are likely to be down from Saturday evening to Sunday morning due to connectivity problems with the INSAT 3C satellite hampering operations of very small apperture terminal (VSAT) service providers. While Jammu and Kashmir Bank has announced this through a release, Standard Chartered Bank and ICICI Bank said the impact on their ATM network would be limited.Department of Space director for Satcom Projects Bhaskar Narayanan said: “The problem is due to the interference from one of the VSAT operators. Five or six operators have been asked to shut down their networks one by one since that is the only way we can identify who it is. The entire process will take around two to three hours.” A spokesman for VSAT service provider Hughes Escorts Communications Ltd (HECL) said the most operators would face the problem. “The company (HECL) has asked its customers including J&K bank to switch off VSATs after working hours on July 5 to facilitate their rectification work,” the release from J&K Bank said. VSAT Service Providers Association secretary general B G Bhalla said, “DoS conducting tests is a regular feature. All VSAT operators who are using transponders 25 and 26 of INSAT 3C satellite will get affected.” On being asked who those operators were, he said that the association didn’t have that information.
