It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that your
fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do something
about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are quite likely to
fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how they get away with it
but the government doesn't care either so that's that.

Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:

> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that
> your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do
> something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are
> quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how they
> get away with it but the government doesn't care either so that's
> that.

Those users need a UPS in that case.

Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:

> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>
>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that
>> your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do
>> something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are
>> quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how they
>> get away with it but the government doesn't care either so that's
>> that.
>
> Those users need a UPS in that case.

Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to pay. This
is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.

Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>
>> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>>
>>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that
>>> your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do
>>> something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are
>>> quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how they
>>> get away with it but the government doesn't care either so that's
>>> that.
>>
>> Those users need a UPS in that case.
>
> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to pay. This
> is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.
>

Well if you are using a VM landline it’s highly likely that the phone
service will fail during a local power cut. In very many locations their
cabinets have little or no battery backup.

Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> writes:

> Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
>> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>>
>>> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>>>
>>>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that
>>>> your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do
>>>> something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are
>>>> quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how
>>>> they get away with it but the government doesn't care either so
>>>> that's that.
>>>
>>> Those users need a UPS in that case.
>>
>> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to
>> pay. This is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.
>>
>
> Well if you are using a VM landline it’s highly likely that the phone
> service will fail during a local power cut. In very many locations
> their cabinets have little or no battery backup.

I've switched it to a cell based system with a battery backup. But I
know what you are going to say, during a local power cut the cell tower
won't work? or maybe that has a backup. One can only do so much...

On Sat 16/12/2023 07:40, Tweed wrote:
> Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
>> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>>
>>> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>>>
>>>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that
>>>> your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do
>>>> something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are
>>>> quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how they
>>>> get away with it but the government doesn't care either so that's
>>>> that.
>>>
>>> Those users need a UPS in that case.
>>
>> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to pay. This
>> is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.
>>
>
> Well if you are using a VM landline it’s highly likely that the phone
> service will fail during a local power cut. In very many locations their
> cabinets have little or no battery backup.
>

VM feed broadband and telephone independently. Telephone goes back to
the exchange or concentrator as a twisted pair. The exchange has <HUGE>
battery backup, the concentrator has a standby generator.

Ergo in a power cut you will likely loose your broadband (along with
everything else!) but your phone - if it not reliant on mains - should
still work.

On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 10:56:25 +0000
Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:

> Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
> >> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
> >>
> >>> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
> >>>
> >>>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told
> >>>> that your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to
> >>>> you to do something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time
> >>>> when you are quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I
> >>>> don't know how they get away with it but the government doesn't
> >>>> care either so that's that.
> >>>
> >>> Those users need a UPS in that case.
> >>
> >> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to
> >> pay. This is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.
> >>
> >
> > Well if you are using a VM landline it’s highly likely that the
> > phone service will fail during a local power cut. In very many
> > locations their cabinets have little or no battery backup.
>
> I've switched it to a cell based system with a battery backup. But I
> know what you are going to say, during a local power cut the cell
> tower won't work? or maybe that has a backup. One can only do so
> much...

As mentioned elsewhere, we had a power cut during Storm Babet, and the
mobile signal failed as well.
We had a power cut a week or so ago, and then, mobiles still worked.
So it is not a give that mobile service will be available even during a
power cut, by recent experience.

--
Davey.

Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> On Sat 16/12/2023 07:40, Tweed wrote:
>> Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
>>> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>>>
>>>> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>>>>
>>>>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that
>>>>> your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do
>>>>> something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are
>>>>> quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how they
>>>>> get away with it but the government doesn't care either so that's
>>>>> that.
>>>>
>>>> Those users need a UPS in that case.
>>>
>>> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to pay. This
>>> is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.
>>>
>>
>> Well if you are using a VM landline it’s highly likely that the phone
>> service will fail during a local power cut. In very many locations their
>> cabinets have little or no battery backup.
>>
>
> VM feed broadband and telephone independently. Telephone goes back to
> the exchange or concentrator as a twisted pair. The exchange has <HUGE>
> battery backup, the concentrator has a standby generator.
>
> Ergo in a power cut you will likely loose your broadband (along with
> everything else!) but your phone - if it not reliant on mains - should
> still work.
>
>

Not round here it doesn’t. The phone lines go as a twisted pair as far as a
big green cabinet round the corner and then get digitised and sent down
fibre. There’s a couple of batteries of uncertain quality.

Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:
> On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 10:56:25 +0000
> Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
>
>> Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
>>>> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>>>>
>>>>> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>>>>>
>>>>>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told
>>>>>> that your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to
>>>>>> you to do something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time
>>>>>> when you are quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I
>>>>>> don't know how they get away with it but the government doesn't
>>>>>> care either so that's that.
>>>>>
>>>>> Those users need a UPS in that case.
>>>>
>>>> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to
>>>> pay. This is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Well if you are using a VM landline it’s highly likely that the
>>> phone service will fail during a local power cut. In very many
>>> locations their cabinets have little or no battery backup.
>>
>> I've switched it to a cell based system with a battery backup. But I
>> know what you are going to say, during a local power cut the cell
>> tower won't work? or maybe that has a backup. One can only do so
>> much...
>
> As mentioned elsewhere, we had a power cut during Storm Babet, and the
> mobile signal failed as well.
> We had a power cut a week or so ago, and then, mobiles still worked.
> So it is not a give that mobile service will be available even during a
> power cut, by recent experience.
>

Mobile networks seem to have over the years moved away from a few large
installations to lots of smaller masts with just a small cabinet near by.
There’s obviously no method of powering these other than some batteries
that might last a few hours, and they are too numerous to service with
brought in mobile generators.

On Sat 16/12/2023 12:12, Tweed wrote:
> Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:
>> On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 10:56:25 +0000
>> Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
>>>>> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told
>>>>>>> that your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to
>>>>>>> you to do something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time
>>>>>>> when you are quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I
>>>>>>> don't know how they get away with it but the government doesn't
>>>>>>> care either so that's that.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Those users need a UPS in that case.
>>>>>
>>>>> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to
>>>>> pay. This is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Well if you are using a VM landline it’s highly likely that the
>>>> phone service will fail during a local power cut. In very many
>>>> locations their cabinets have little or no battery backup.
>>>
>>> I've switched it to a cell based system with a battery backup. But I
>>> know what you are going to say, during a local power cut the cell
>>> tower won't work? or maybe that has a backup. One can only do so
>>> much...
>>
>> As mentioned elsewhere, we had a power cut during Storm Babet, and the
>> mobile signal failed as well.
>> We had a power cut a week or so ago, and then, mobiles still worked.
>> So it is not a give that mobile service will be available even during a
>> power cut, by recent experience.
>>
>
> Mobile networks seem to have over the years moved away from a few large
> installations to lots of smaller masts with just a small cabinet near by.
> There’s obviously no method of powering these other than some batteries
> that might last a few hours, and they are too numerous to service with
> brought in mobile generators.
>

Plus the Pikeys break into them and steel the batteries.

I few years ago we had a spate of battery theft. On one site they
fastened a chain to a 4x4 truck and the other end to the barred gate
over the entrance door. When they pulled the chain the whole end of the
cabin came off! They still stole the batteries......

On 16/12/2023 12:06, Tweed wrote:
> Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>> On Sat 16/12/2023 07:40, Tweed wrote:
>>> Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
>>>> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>>>>
>>>>> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>>>>>
>>>>>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that
>>>>>> your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do
>>>>>> something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are
>>>>>> quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how they
>>>>>> get away with it but the government doesn't care either so that's
>>>>>> that.
>>>>>
>>>>> Those users need a UPS in that case.
>>>>
>>>> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to pay. This
>>>> is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Well if you are using a VM landline it’s highly likely that the phone
>>> service will fail during a local power cut. In very many locations their
>>> cabinets have little or no battery backup.
>>>
>>
>> VM feed broadband and telephone independently. Telephone goes back to
>> the exchange or concentrator as a twisted pair. The exchange has <HUGE>
>> battery backup, the concentrator has a standby generator.
>>
>> Ergo in a power cut you will likely loose your broadband (along with
>> everything else!) but your phone - if it not reliant on mains - should
>> still work.
>>
>>
>
> Not round here it doesn’t. The phone lines go as a twisted pair as far as a
> big green cabinet round the corner and then get digitised and sent down
> fibre. There’s a couple of batteries of uncertain quality.
>

VM are moving to VOIP. My son received a voip adaptor. VM seem to be
having similar issues to BT. e.g.

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Home-Phone/VOIP-switchover/td-p/5041180

On 15/12/2023 22:29, Richmond wrote:
> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>
>> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>>
>>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that
>>> your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do
>>> something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are
>>> quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how they
>>> get away with it but the government doesn't care either so that's
>>> that.
>>
>> Those users need a UPS in that case.
>
> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to pay. This
> is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.

Virgin say mobile phone is needed...

Am 15.12.2023 um 22:29:54 Uhr schrieb Richmond:

> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>
> > Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
> >
> >> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that
> >> your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do
> >> something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are
> >> quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how
> >> they get away with it but the government doesn't care either so
> >> that's that.
> >
> > Those users need a UPS in that case.
>
> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to pay.

The customer has to pay for it.

> This is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.

I agree that analog landlines had that benefit, but at least in
Germany, it was never a part of the contract.

It is a disadvantage for all who need a reliable service, even when
power is off.

The only way to ensure that is to provide UPS and to provide multiple
ways for telephone communication, e.g. by having an additional link to
the internet via cellular network.

With FTTC and VDSL it is likely that those systems have no power when
power in the city is off.

On 16/12/2023 14:04, David Wade wrote:
> VM are moving to VOIP.

Everyone is. I believe VMs solution for vulnerable customers involves
automatic switchover to a mobile phone network.

Woody <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> writes:

> On Sat 16/12/2023 07:40, Tweed wrote:
>> Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
>>> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>>>
>>>> Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>>>>
>>>>> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told
>>>>> that your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you
>>>>> to do something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you
>>>>> are quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know
>>>>> how they get away with it but the government doesn't care either
>>>>> so that's that.
>>>>
>>>> Those users need a UPS in that case.
>>>
>>> Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to
>>> pay. This is ageist and penalizes people with disabilities.
>>>
>> Well if you are using a VM landline it’s highly likely that the phone
>> service will fail during a local power cut. In very many locations
>> their cabinets have little or no battery backup.
>>
>
> VM feed broadband and telephone independently. Telephone goes back to
> the exchange or concentrator as a twisted pair. The exchange has
> <HUGE> battery backup, the concentrator has a standby generator.
>
> Ergo in a power cut you will likely loose your broadband (along with
> everything else!) but your phone - if it not reliant on mains - should
> still work.

Not long after the conversion there were network problems in the area
and the phone stopped working for several hours. I don't know what
conclusion to draw from that but it doesn't fill me with
confidence. Also (this is Aged P's phone) when I was there recently and
tried to dial out it didn't work, but a few minutes later it did.

David Woolley <david@ex.djwhome.demon.invalid> writes:

> On 16/12/2023 14:04, David Wade wrote:
>> VM are moving to VOIP.
>
> Everyone is. I believe VMs solution for vulnerable customers involves
> automatic switchover to a mobile phone network.

What they did was install an emergency desk phone with a sim card which
can only be used to phone emergency services and cannot accept incoming
calls. But no use to the fall alarm system.

Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> wrote:
> Am 15.12.2023 um 22:29:54 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>
> > Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
> >
> > > Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
> > >
> > >> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told that
> > >> your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to you to do
> > >> something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time when you are
> > >> quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I don't know how
> > >> they get away with it but the government doesn't care either so
> > >> that's that.
> > >
> > > Those users need a UPS in that case.
> >
> > Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to pay.
>
> The customer has to pay for it.

The customer is presumably paying the fall alarm people a monthly fee to
maintain the service. I think therefore it's their responsibility to offer
a service that works with whatever connectivity the customer has available -
if landlines don't work in a power cut, that's a problem the fall alarm
people need to solve.

Switching to using the mobile network seems to be the obvious answer here,
although it doesn't answer the question of what happens when the mobile base
station runs out of battery. But by then the battery at the exchange and
your home UPS are probably flat anyway, so there's not much difference.

I'm not sure how common diesel generators are at exchange sites these days?

If you're on FTTC, I suppose a home UPS won't help you for a VOIP connection
if the cabinet loses power - not sure home much battery backup there is
there?

Theo

Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes:

> Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> wrote:
>> Am 15.12.2023 um 22:29:54 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>>
>> > Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
>> >
>> > > Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
>> > >
>> > >> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told
>> > >> that your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to
>> > >> you to do something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time
>> > >> when you are quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I
>> > >> don't know how they get away with it but the government doesn't
>> > >> care either so that's that.
>> > >
>> > > Those users need a UPS in that case.
>> >
>> > Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to pay.
>>
>> The customer has to pay for it.
>
> The customer is presumably paying the fall alarm people a monthly fee
> to maintain the service. I think therefore it's their responsibility
> to offer a service that works with whatever connectivity the customer
> has available - if landlines don't work in a power cut, that's a
> problem the fall alarm people need to solve.
>
> Switching to using the mobile network seems to be the obvious answer
> here, although it doesn't answer the question of what happens when the
> mobile base station runs out of battery. But by then the battery at
> the exchange and your home UPS are probably flat anyway, so there's
> not much difference.
>
> I'm not sure how common diesel generators are at exchange sites these
> days?
>
> If you're on FTTC, I suppose a home UPS won't help you for a VOIP
> connection if the cabinet loses power - not sure home much battery
> backup there is there?
>
> Theo

The base unit can use more than one network. I think it picks the best
one, so maybe it can find a mast that is not subject to a power cut.

On Sat, 16 Dec 2023 22:52:49 +0000
Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:

> Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes:
>
> > Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> wrote:
> >> Am 15.12.2023 um 22:29:54 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
> >>
> >> > Marco Moock <mm+usenet-es@dorfdsl.de> writes:
> >> >
> >> > > Am 15.12.2023 um 16:17:20 Uhr schrieb Richmond:
> >> > >
> >> > >> It seems if you are converted to VOIP then you are simply told
> >> > >> that your fall alarm won't work in a power cut and it's up to
> >> > >> you to do something about it. Obviously a power cut is a time
> >> > >> when you are quite likely to fall down if you are unstable. I
> >> > >> don't know how they get away with it but the government
> >> > >> doesn't care either so that's that.
> >> > >
> >> > > Those users need a UPS in that case.
> >> >
> >> > Looking at the prices I don't think Virgin Media is going to
> >> > pay.
> >>
> >> The customer has to pay for it.
> >
> > The customer is presumably paying the fall alarm people a monthly
> > fee to maintain the service. I think therefore it's their
> > responsibility to offer a service that works with whatever
> > connectivity the customer has available - if landlines don't work
> > in a power cut, that's a problem the fall alarm people need to
> > solve.
> >
> > Switching to using the mobile network seems to be the obvious answer
> > here, although it doesn't answer the question of what happens when
> > the mobile base station runs out of battery. But by then the
> > battery at the exchange and your home UPS are probably flat anyway,
> > so there's not much difference.
> >
> > I'm not sure how common diesel generators are at exchange sites
> > these days?
> >
> > If you're on FTTC, I suppose a home UPS won't help you for a VOIP
> > connection if the cabinet loses power - not sure home much battery
> > backup there is there?
> >
> > Theo
>
> The base unit can use more than one network. I think it picks the best
> one, so maybe it can find a mast that is not subject to a power cut.

....if there are multiple masts available.

--
Davey

Theo wrote:

> If you're on FTTC, I suppose a home UPS won't help you for a VOIP connection
> if the cabinet loses power - not sure home much battery backup there is

I've experienced a power outage of several hours, I shutdown most loads
on my own UPS (leaving router and DECT base) and the FTTC cabinet stayed
up ...

You have to hope BT are better at routinely replacing batteries than
they were for megastream cabinets delivering 999 calls, they had to be
pushed *HARD* to replace those even when they were totally dead!

On 16/12/2023 22:40, Theo wrote:
> Switching to using the mobile network seems to be the obvious answer here,
> although it doesn't answer the question of what happens when the mobile base
> station runs out of battery. But by then the battery at the exchange and
> your home UPS are probably flat anyway, so there's not much difference.

What is the situation now for battery backup at mobile base stations?

I had contact with one of their engineers after they dumped a load of
batteries at one of our remote sites - he said they had been going
removing batteries and just relying on a small battery on the cards in
the bay which just stopped the equipment crashing when there was a
glitch on the mains supply. Actual backup of the service was minimal.

People do have a ridiculous amount of faith in the resilience of mobile
phones, a friend was at an Emergency Planning meeting many years when
this came up. When asked what would happen if their system went down,
he got out his mobile phone and said he would use that! Funny when you
remember that the old emergency services networks could run for weeks on
diesel.

On 17/12/2023 10:00, Andy Burns wrote:
> I've experienced a power outage of several hours, I shutdown most loads
> on my own UPS (leaving router and DECT base) and the FTTC cabinet stayed
> up ...
>
> You have to hope BT are better at routinely replacing batteries than
> they were for megastream cabinets delivering 999 calls, they had to be
> pushed *HARD* to replace those even when they were totally dead!

Read up on when they had heavy snow in Kintyre, pylons came down with
the weight of snow on the lines so no power over a very wide area.

The roads were were all blocked with snow but the council (and
contractors) had got rid of their diesel backed up radio networks and
completely reliant on mobile phones which were off.

Not sure if the power companies still had their own diesel backed up
radio network then but would not surprise me if the beancounters had
decided it was needed.

Everything was off for days - the power company had to charter a ferry
to get their people and plant into the area (they also brought in burger
vans so there was hot food).

Someone should get a MP to ask question in Parliament to the appropriate
minister on how long the various telecom companies can continue to
provide a service with a major mains failure.

On Sun, 17 Dec 2023 13:49:37 +0000
JMB99 <mb@nospam.net> wrote:

> On 17/12/2023 10:00, Andy Burns wrote:
> > I've experienced a power outage of several hours, I shutdown most
> > loads on my own UPS (leaving router and DECT base) and the FTTC
> > cabinet stayed up ...
> >
> > You have to hope BT are better at routinely replacing batteries
> > than they were for megastream cabinets delivering 999 calls, they
> > had to be pushed *HARD* to replace those even when they were
> > totally dead!
>
>
>
> Read up on when they had heavy snow in Kintyre, pylons came down with
> the weight of snow on the lines so no power over a very wide area.
>
> The roads were were all blocked with snow but the council (and
> contractors) had got rid of their diesel backed up radio networks and
> completely reliant on mobile phones which were off.
>
> Not sure if the power companies still had their own diesel backed up
> radio network then but would not surprise me if the beancounters had
> decided it was needed.
>
> Everything was off for days - the power company had to charter a
> ferry to get their people and plant into the area (they also brought
> in burger vans so there was hot food).
>
> Someone should get a MP to ask question in Parliament to the
> appropriate minister on how long the various telecom companies can
> continue to provide a service with a major mains failure.
>
>
>
I am reminded of the US Northeast Great Power Blackout of 2003.
Luckily, it was in the summer, but we, and millions of others, were
without power for three or four days.

--
Davey.

On 16/12/2023 12:12, Tweed wrote:
> Mobile networks seem to have over the years moved away from a few large
> installations to lots of smaller masts with just a small cabinet near by.
> There’s obviously no method of powering these other than some batteries
> that might last a few hours, and they are too numerous to service with
> brought in mobile generators.

A big cost is regularly replacing the batteries and with mobile phone
sites often on remote spots with no track, that can mean all terrain
vehicle or helicopter.