Telecom Collapse?

Thu Dec 4 16:29:37 UTC 2008

On Thu, 4 Dec 2008 10:13:14 -0600
"Paul Bosworth" <pbosworth at gmail.com> wrote:

> In my experience with a fiber to the home deployment I feel that the
> trend of moving away from the stability of POTS lines for emergency
> service is acceptable for most people. Most battery backups allow for
> around 36 hours of dialtone. The overwhelming majority of power
> outages last nowhere near this long. In addition, when used for
> emergencies only, a cellular phone can last for several days. During
> Hurricane Gustav my home in Baton Rouge was without power for nine
> days. Between my wife's cellphone and my own we were able to maintain
> emergency service for the entire duration of the outage.
> Transitioning off of the POTS grid to newer technologies requires a
> new approach to how people prepare for and respond to outages and
> disasters, but I feel that the alternatives to POTS access are
> acceptible.
> 
What about the cell site?  See
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/12/03/ap5776571.html

	The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday its
	attempt to require backup power for all U.S. cell phone towers
	is dead for now, but it will take another stab at the issue
	soon.

	The agency told a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.,
	that it will honor a regulator's decision rejecting its
	proposed requirement. Article Controls

	The FCC proposed in May 2007 that all cell towers have a
	minimum of eight hours of backup power, which would switch on
	if a tower lost its regular energy source.

	...


		--Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb