You need to choose one or the other -- either it's a scalar, or it's a hash reference. It can't be both.

That said, you're probalby better off with it as a hash reference. That is, make your c"ount of how many lines" be $sw_ctype_brkdown{$switchnum}{$calltype}{lines} and your count of the "nuber of seconds" be $sw_ctype_brkdown{$switchnum}{$calltype}{seconds} -- this way, you keep to one data structure, and it's a structure which explains itself. This is always a plus.

perl -pe '"I lo*`+$^X$\"$]!$/"=~m%(.*)%s;$_=$1;y^`+*^e v^#$&V"+@( NO CARRIER'