said by TomS_:I posted a reply to the article because one person suggested duplicating each copper phone line to another exchange. That kind of approach is simply unfeasible.
The most feasible solution for preventing such a disaster from happening again would be to invest in a proper fire suppression system. There should have been one in place to begin with.
said by TomS_:IMO what needs to happen is decentralisation of the customer access network, like installing street cabinets that handle a small number of customers, and feature diverse backhaul to geographically redundant aggregation points. This allows any single node, network segment, or aggregation point failure, without disrupting service to the larger majority of customers.
That is how our local telcos (Telus and Bell) have been doing things in newer subdivisions and even some older areas that are being upgraded in the last decade or so. Copper from the customers runs to cabinets centrally located in each neighborhood, and from the cabinets it's onto a fiber network from there.