Telecommunications cables connecting Wenchuan County, the epicenter of Monday's devastating quake in southwest China, with other parts of the country resumed operation at 1:55 PM on Thursday, said engineers with fixed-line operator China Telecom.

People in Wenchuan could make calls via fixed-line phones and personal handy-phone system handsets, known as xiaolingtong in China.

The operator said it had dispatched six rescue teams to Wenchuan from Lixian and Maoxian counties on foot to fix the line.

Work was to have been finished at midnight on Wednesday, but it was delayed by heavy rain.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2008)