FCC rules for backup power

Tue Nov 13 21:39:11 UTC 2007

One of the results of the changes is that there will probably be fewer 
COs in the world of the future. They strictly speaking aren't required 
as often as they used to be, and more and more infrastructure will be 
deemed "end-powered" or outside plant anyway.

If everything goes fiber to the premises, we could have huge swaths of 
land covered by singular or paired monolithic (but hopefully well 
designed/operated) COs.

The article makes a lot of wild predictions/concerns that are frankly 
outside of the scope of the ruling. *How* you provide power is your 
business. The FCC isn't even declaring *what* counts. If your battery 
plant explodes and you don't get your 8 hours of run-time, its not like 
they are going to severely penalize you -- the idea is the effort and 
consideration of on going operation.

While we talk about "restoring" connectivity, etc -- major 
reconstruction can take a while. 24/8hrs is about life safety. Once 
power goes out, lots of people need to call for help. Even if the cell 
sites are up, if where they connect to the POTS infrastructure is dark, 
no one can call 911.

*THAT* is the way I read this. This is not about business continuity, or 
saving property -- just making sure E911 and other things keep working 
while people could be under a tree that fell into their house *during* 
the storm.

Deepak