[LINK] Battery back-up mandatory for NBN?

[Tom Koltai]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au 
> [mailto:link-bounces at mailman.anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of Kim Holburn
> Sent: Monday, 25 October 2010 12:18 PM
> To: link
> Subject: Re: [LINK] Battery back-up mandatory for NBN?
> 
> 
> 
> On 2010/Oct/25, at 12:15 PM, Jan Whitaker wrote:
> 
> > At 11:38 AM 25/10/2010, Richard Chirgwin wrote:
> > 
<SNIP>

The power outages in California in the late nineties (air-con grid
overload) were the reason why PacBell started re-installing all the
copper that they had previously pulled out.

A senior PacBell person (sorry forgot her name) explained to the NANOG
(39th NANOG) particpants that it was cheaper to reinstall the copper
that had been replaced by the fibre than settle all the lawsuits that
were starting to pop out of the woodwork due to emergency services not
being able to be contacted by elderly people during emergencies.

Of course, cell phones were not at that time as ubiquitous as they are
today.

It would however appear that there are many, (21% [US numbers]) that opt
not to have a cell phone.
Should Australia continue down the road of removing all copper services
before those persons were supplied with a viable alternative, I foresee
a similar legal dilemma possibly raising it's head downunder.

Postcript:

Annecdotally, having lived in Darwin for many years and suffering the
almost regular power outages during the wet season (trees on power lines
during storms) I can say that there is a comfort in being able to pick
the phone during a cyclone when all the power is out and being able to
ensure that your friends are ok. 

(Length of time for P&W to clear the storm debris and return power to
normal ? Sometimes two to three days.) 


Tom