[BC] Vonage (etc) vs copper dial line

[R A Meuser]

What you say is true of some SOME of the cell systems in NYC during the 
blackout. That does not explain  why some of the big Verizon generators 
failed in some central offices for land line service, which was down 
much longer than the power was out.



Broadcast List wrote:
> The reason for this is that NYC has some of the strictest regulations  
> for generators and fuel storage in the world.  Few cell site have  
> generators at all, and many COs don't either.  They nearly always  have 
> connections for external "portable" generators.  However, during  the 
> "big blackout" there just were not enough generators go go  around, so 
> once the power is out long enough for the batteries to  die, so does the 
> service.
> 
> NYC also has some of the most reliable power delivery in the world as  
> well.
> 
> My home phone service has been fed via fiber since March 1983.  It is  
> turned into copper about 400 yards from my house in an underground  
> vault -- a really big one, and it resembles a computer room more than  a 
> man hole.  When the power goes out, the vault phones home and a  
> contractor delivers a generator to the location and connects it.  We  
> have had a few multi-day outages but the dial tone keeps working.   
> Comcast, on the other hand, used to quit immediately until I started  
> filing complaints.  Now it stays on for about 20 minutes of the 2  hours 
> required by the franchise agreement.
> 
> .
> On Jan 28, 2008, at 6:01 AM, broadcast-request at radiolists.net wrote:
> 
>> Message: 23
>> Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2008 23:42:19 -0500
>> From: R A Meuser <rameuser at ieee.org>
>> Subject: Re: [BC] Vonage (etc) vs copper dial line
>> To: "Broadcasters' Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
>> Message-ID: <479D5D2B.2030701 at ieee.org>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>
>> That only works if the phone company retains staff to keep the
>> generators running. That did not happen in the last blackout and some
>> phones in midtown Manhattan did not work up to a week after the power
>> came back. You can no longer trust the phone company.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> WBRadiolists at aol.com wrote:
>>
>>> In a message dated 01/26/2008 8:56:10 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>>> mrfixit at min.midco.net writes:
>>>
>>>
>>>> TELCO still supplies DC from the CO to run phone sets, but most
>>>> people have electronic phones that quit when the AC drops. I keep
>>>> a couple "old" phones here for just this reason.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> This is *exactly* why I will be keeping my copper pair phone line  
>>> until they
>>> pry it from my cold, dead hands. ;)
>>>
>>> Cell phones have proven themselves *useless*, time and again, in  
>>> widespread
>>> emergencies, while in *most* cases, POTS came through. I also have  a 
>>> "power
>>> failure phone" which is phone-line powered, right by the bed.  There 
>>> is one at
>>> WFIF, also. Anywhere you have an electronic phone system, you  should 
>>> have at
>>> LEAST one POTS phone connected (or readily connectable) to an  analog 
>>> line. A good
>>> quality UPS on the phone system is a good idea, too. :)
>>>
>>> Willie...
> 
> 
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