micky writes:

On Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:39:13 -0500, George
wrote:


Wired phones run on batteries at the central station with generators
to keep the batteries charged, but what about FIOS phone and Fios
Internet?

You are talking about days of old. Less than 40% of the population has
wired phones and phone companies see the handwriting on the wall. Many
such as Verizon sold off a bunch of those systems (Verizon sold off 13
states) to companies that will run what remains on a shoestring budget.
Stuff that they do retain will never again see the TLC of old.

But what about FIOS. If there is a power failure at the exchange, do
they all have generators? Are there amps or something on phone poles
between the telephone exchange and my house that depend on a source of
power that's neither the exchange or my house?

Took a tour of a switching office once.
They have power, then backup generators, then big racks of backup
batteries.

The old copper system powered the phone from the switching office.
Your lights could be out but you could still use the phone.

With FIOS you have a few hours of battery power then you're dead.
In this last storm, my battery backup failed and had to be replaced
before I could use FIOS at all.

--
Dan Espen