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Comments on news posted 2008-04-01 13:16:23: While some argue FiOS's achilles heel is its poor billing support, Telephony Online thinks it's the ONT battery that's going to be a problem for Verizon. ..
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VegasMan
Are We There Yet?
join:2002-11-17
Schaumburg, IL | Fios batteries I'm not sure on how many the customer replaces but I can tell you that a lot do fail. We have the contract to fix the FIOS equipment and we trash batteries and battery boxes all of the time.
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In need of a Vegas vacation.
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| EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA
| Cell phones I wonder if Verizon will start promoting Verizon Wireless as an alternative for those worried about long-term telephone outages? Indeed, I seem to recall reading that VZW is the only carrier which tries to make sure every tower has some sort of backup power source (though the FCC is now going to regulate that all carriers must do it) | |
| patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
|  FO0LS
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Kylemaul
Lovin' My Firefox 1.5.x
Premium
join:2001-03-30
North Port, FL
clubs: | Re: FO0LS Damn acronym junkies. | |
| | | brianl703
join:2004-02-26
Manassas, VA
| said by qworster  :Only in severely oversubscribed areas do the telcos use Remote Terminals (also known as Pair Gain units). These units put 24 C.O. lines on a single T-1 circuit (two pairs). You can't modem faster then 28.8 on them either. There are different types of remote terminals. The ones Contel used are basically slave COs. My understanding is that if their connection to the master CO is completely cut they will still allow you to call your neighbors who are on the same remote. These might not even be considered remote terminals..GTE techs always referred to them as "remotes".
I should point out that the remote (slave) and master COs are assigned the same NPA-Nxx prefixes and that the remote (slave) COs do not show up on the central office locator tools found on the web. | |
| | bogey780
join:2004-03-19
Here
| If a site goes down there's a generator there before the batteries die almost always. With Katrina, BellSouth had started rolling generators out to sites within 24hrs of it having passed in some places and had most sites covered within the week. At least the sites that survived. Heh.
We kept phones for 12 hours after Katrina passed before it went dead from lack of juice. With low voltage cutoff it killed the DSL after a few hours and kept POTS on for that long.
And some sites have diesel or LNG gensets for instant back-up if the power demands of the site exceed telco set power limits. | |
| | brianl703
join:2004-02-26
Manassas, VA
1 edit | said by patcat88 :All you fools dont realize that with POTS, almost all new lines ordered today are off of RT. No telco expands trunk lines back to the central office anymore. You only have a couple hours of battery with a RT, unless the telco drives a generator trailer to the RT All of the RTs in Prince William County, Virginia (former Contel area) that I've seen are 10x10 or 10x20 buildings with a generator next to them.
I've never seen an RT without a generator in this county, unlike neighboring Fairfax (former C&P/Bell Atlantic) where RTs are invariably curbside cabinets.
I guess for once Contel did something right.
Incidentally, the standard for battery backup for telco equipment is 8 hours. | |
| | cyclone_z
join:2006-06-19
Ames, IA
 ·Qwest.net
| said by patcat88 :All you fools dont realize that with POTS, almost all new lines ordered today are off of RT. My parents' house is fairly new and not off an RT; they do have a remote DSLAM according to a Qwest tech I talked to. A little over a year ago they had a bad ice storm that knocked out power. I've made sure my parents always have a corded phone. My father was out of town for work and my mother was home by herself. First thing she did was go to the corded phone and call the power company to report the outage. The corded phone worked fine. The house is well insulted and she was able to stay there until the next day when the ice melted. The phone still worked. It worked the entire outage even though 1/2 the town LOST POWER -- INCLUDING QWEST. But they have backup batteries and generators. As far as we know, the phone worked the entire outage; she left to go to a friend's house that had power on day 2 of the outage.
If there had been snow on top of it and it had gotten colder instead of warmer, she would have been stranded; how could she have called for help? So I think it's a big deal.
Qwest does have a campaign where they are encouraging people to have corded phones for power outages; even giving some away.
People down the street had cable phone service; it quit immediately even though there was a backup battery. HFC plant must not have backup power. But they were able to call the power company with US Cellular. Either USCC had backup power or their phones connected to a USCC cell site that was not affected by the outage. | |
| | 
Ahpuch
@verizon.net
| Batteries Already had to replace mine within 1st year, told by service tech in the area it's the customers responsibility to replace. Not a problem I work in fire alarm and deal with these batteries all the time, but recycling for the regular consumer is going to be a big problem. | |
| 
Technogeez
Gone but not forgetting
Premium
join:2007-01-20
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | Probably If Grandma's not color blind, is at least as intelligent as a six-year-old, and has the dexterity sufficient to unplug two wires, then plug the wires onto the appropriate terminals, then, yes, she probably can do it. BTW, your lead photo shows the inside of the ONT, not the BBU. Grandma doesn't need to go there to change the battery.
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Read your contract and TOS before signing anything. | |
| | rebus9
join:2002-03-26
Tampa Bay
·Verizon FIOS
 ·RoadRunner Cable
2 edits | And the first lawsuit comes from..... ? I can't help but wonder who will be the first to sue, when a "longer than 8 hour battery life" power outage happens and someone tries to dial 911 on a dead phone line.
Or better yet, if their battery goes dead but they're not aware of it (grandma doesn't know what the blinking red light in her garage means) phones go down as soon as the utility power drops.
If Vonage can be sued for 911 failure issues, so can VZ.
It's one thing if a fallen tree knocks down phone lines. It's another when the downed service is a result of a weak link in the installed equipment.
People will say, "So don't get FIOS, then." But realize that in new developments, they are no longer installing copper at all, so fiber (and its limited-uptime phone service) is your only choice. | |
| | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| Re: And the first lawsuit comes from..... ? Remember the ONTs monitor the batteries and Verizon can access the data, the question is, will Verizon do it? and how will Verizon bug users? Bill inserts? nobody reads them nowadays. Cut service except for 911 access and customer service if the battery is dead ("Your service has been suspended except to contact 911 until you contact Customer Support, to be connected now press 1, otherwise dial 911 if this is an emergency")? give a audio warning before connecting each call, or when you pick up the handet? | |
| | | rebus9
join:2002-03-26
Tampa Bay
·Verizon FIOS
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: And the first lawsuit comes from..... ? Isn't the customer responsible for both the act of replacing, and the cost of replacing, the batteries after the first year?
The notion of millions of used batteries probably brings a shiver to the spines of those who are environmentally conscious. I know they're recyclable, but so are our UPS batteries. When I buy replacement batteries from APC, they include a post-paid shipping label to return the dead one. But, I'm sure a lot of people don't bother and just throw the old one in the trash. | |
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jacknyc
@verizon.net
| batteries & alt 12vdc input The batteries aren't that tough to replace, but I doubt that matters. If you aren't comfortable doing it, Vz will send a tech to you with a battery (not sure who pays for it).
When the power goes out, the BBU will let you keep making calls until the battery hits 10% (10% of what I don't know). At which point, it cuts you off. To make additional calls you have to push the little 'Battery Emergency Use' button on the BBU. This lets you make a more calls and the battery will drain until it flatlines at which point it can't be recharged and must be replaced.
If you look closely at your BBU, there is a alternative 12vdc power in on the side. I've seen no literature on it, but it is there. Anybody know what that is? | |
| RobertJTownley
join:2001-04-13
Omaha, NE
| PhotoVoltaics, Crank, Solar - other alternatives. How about using the light in the fiber for photovoltaic power? A small photovoltaic/solar cell that uses some of the light to power the equipment. Maybe it would be worth it to inject other wavelengths of light just for power?
I liked a previous poster's suggestion of crank power the most. Bring back those old crank telephones! Expand it to hook stationary bicycle generators up to where POE normally goes to power local datacomm if need be. If a neighborhood is too obese, cut the power on the hour.
In the 70's, many grade school kids had solar powered calculators - so why aren't more devices solar/photovoltaic? | |
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Eons ago it was considered a giant leap forward when technology allowed the telephone industry to go from Local Battery Telephone Systems to Common Battery Telephone Systems. What one really needs in addition to the back up battery is one of those windup generators to charge the battery. That way the subscriber can make some crank calls while the power is out.