[LINK] Battery back-up mandatory for NBN?

[Tom Worthington]

David Boxall wrote:

> For me, the cogent points are: * Environmental cost;

I will offer the environmental cost of battery backup for the NBN as a
project for my Green ICT students.

> The need is questionable, given that mobile coverage is generally 
> superior to land lines. ...

As far as I am aware, there is no requirement for mobile providers to
supply a service during a blackout. In practice they do (the US material 
I found suggested eight hours for cell towers), but as far as I know 
there is no law to say how long the service will operate for. So having 
a mobile phone does not guarantee you will have phone or data access
during a blackout.

> The fact that copper-line phones continue to function when mains
> power fails is convenient serendipity. ...

No. The system was designed to continue to operate when mains power 
failed. What competent professional would design a telecommunications 
system which relied on mains power?

In the earliest days phones where powered by batteries in the exchanges. 
But later when mains power was available the phone company could have 
simply used that and saved money. Instead they provided battery and 
generator backup for blackouts.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science, The
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/