Widespread Competition to Cable Internet Ramping Up

The phone company can use the excuse of "the power is out" when the power is out at the customer's site. Power out at intermediate locations is harder to sell. The local telco uses battery backups and generators at most sites with a generator connection at the battery sites for extended outages. All part of the plan to keep service active. No batteries and no provision for alternate power is not a good way to keep service active.

 

In the "old days" phone service was provided on a pair of copper wires originating at a central office. In larger towns and cities there could be remote offices with equipment similar to the central offices where the wire from the home or business terminates on equipment that carried the call back to the CO on other copper wires. A power outage at the CO or remote office could interrupt service.

In more modern days remote equipment was placed out in the field. Large cabinets were used as the break out points for the wires feeding homes and businesses. When the telephone company began to embrace fiber those remote cabinets were connected back to the CO or a remote office via fiber ... but even before fiber the remote cabinets needed electricity. As noted in my previous posts, telcos used batteries and generators to keep their sites online.