Phone company asks you not to use the phone New Year’s eve

U-S West officials expect New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day to be THE busiest calling days in Iowa history. The telecommunications giant is warning people there may be delays in getting a dial tone that night around midnight — but it’ll be due to a heavy load, not Y-2-K.U-S West spokeswoman Lynn Gipple says the busiest times are expected to be in the two hours around midnight and after 8 a-m on New Year’s Day. Gipple hopes customers will make an effort to stay off of their phones during those peak hours.Gipple says lives could be placed at risk by people who grab their phone just to see if there’s a dialtone — or worse — by people who call 9-1-1 just to ensure the service is still working.She says it’s a good idea to have a list handy of the seven-digit non-emergency numbers for police, fire and medical services — just in case 9-1-1 service is unavailable.