Steve Walker wrote:
Yes, because it has been a requirement for phones to still work when the
mains power fails. Which is the whole point of what I have been saying
from the start! The exchange has large batteries and an auto-start
generator to maintain the system - fibre cannot power the phone in
someone's house!

That's true. OTOH there are people who don't have a POTS phone in their
house, because they all use their mobiles. Or their phone is DECT which
doesn't work when there's a power outage. Plus landlines might not work
when there's a flood or storm, if wires are down or saturated.

So there might be a case that we should provide the emergency link by
mobile, which also has the advantage that it can be useful in situations
like when you're trapped on the roof of your house by rising flood waters.

That would mean base stations with backup power supplies, but also giving
subscribers some kind of backup charging for their mobile whose battery will
likely only last a day. It also means retaining landline backup for those
who can't get a mobile signal.

I wonder whether supplying every household with a power bank in your router,
which keeps the landline alive but also charges mobiles, might not be
infeasible?

Theo