[LINK] Telecoms lessons learnt in the flood

[Marghanita da Cruz]

Rachel Polanskis wrote:
<snip>
> Quigley was on ABC 702 this morning and made the point that copper cable is affected
> by water if it gets wet and fibre is not.  He said so long as the end points between the exchange
> and the premises were dry and supplied with power, data would continue to flow.
> He also said "it's glass, so it does not conduct electricity".   I am unclear how far these statements go, but I guess he is right.  I would be concerned that repeated inundation and drying cycles of the cable would cause the sheathing to eventually perish, crack and go mouldy,
> leading to eventual breakage of the cable.   But in the short term, I guess he is right!
<snip>

So, we end up at the same old issue of who will do the
expensive and now apparently high risk conversion to
copper and electricity....seems running the fibre up a
pole or roof top and terminating with solar powered
wireless may be the way to go.

There was a claim in the ZDNET article that the telecoms did
not exist in the 1974 floods. Electricity and the Telegraph
was around, and Gas before that for quite a while.

Glebe Post and Telegraph Office 1907 (with electricity cables)
<http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-http%253A%252F%252Frecordsearch.naa.gov.au%252Fscripts%252FSearchOld.asp%253FO%253DPSI2%2526Number%253D3025109>
1890 without cables
<http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-http%253A%252F%252Frecordsearch.naa.gov.au%252Fscripts%252FSearchOld.asp%253FO%253DPSI2%2526Number%253D3025114>

Though Australia Post plans to close Glebe Post office
> Federal Labor Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has bowed to growing pressure to intervene to save Glebe Post Office and has asked Australia Post to reconsider its decision to close the facility.
> 
> The closure, which is slated for February, has sparked outrage among Glebe residents who have formed a citizens’ action group to oppose the move.
<http://glebesociety.org.au/?p=4401>

Marghanita
-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://ramin.com.au
Tel: 0414-869202