In reply to a post by MCM:

What appears to be needed is more resilient backup arrangements for cellular base stations including swapping out batteries where necessary in much the same way as Openreach does with its FTTC cabs when there are local power failures.

This is right on the money in my view. We need to asses the reality that the moment most people can easily drop their landline they will. Consequently if we wish to make emergency calls more resilient in light of extended power cuts the solution is to make cellular base stations more resilient. The phone itself is easy, get a solar and/or handcrank charger.

The other option to avoid a Lancaster type situation is don't situate your main/only substation for the city next to a fricking river.

I responded to the survey accordingly!

In reply to a post by alwall:

The real life situation in the Lancaster power cut in 2015 was that all mobile phone coverage ceased. There is no requirement for cellular base stations to continue working during a prolonged mains failure.

Landlines continued to work but with no mains power there was no internet access as modem/routers were off.

Our infrastructure is increasingly mains-power dependent.

OK, But if you have a dect phone. Which, from personal experience the vast majority of people do. It make no odds if landlines still work, as you can't use it.

I guess cost is a driving force here. Ofcom keep driving down charges to consumer, yet expect the suppliers to spend more on something that happens once a blue moon. End of the day it is a balancing act.
The Lancaster case was a extraordinary event.
Would you expect back up to cover any eventuality? In which case a back up diesel generator would be a good option at all points. But I'm sure the eco mob would not be happy...

I can't remember the last time we had a power cut, as I guess a lot of people can't.

In reply to a post by alwall:

The real life situation i

should also be pointed out I have had way more landline outages in the past 10 years than mobile voice outages, in fact I dont think I have ever ever ever lost voice service on my contract mobile phone at home including in power cuts.

Enforcing working fixed line's during power outages for emergencies seems dated. Especially that now many landline phones stop working when power is cut as well.

With that said I think a 1 hour battery backup is a bit of a joke regardless of the reason, surely BT can improve on that, I just dont think it should be a regulatory requirement in this manner.

ofcom are doing nothing on consumer prices, but they are forcing wholesale pricing down (which hits openreach who are the ones that supply the inafrstructure).

With that said I think a 1 hour battery backup is a bit of a joke regardless of the reason

I was under the impression that for many BT exchanges back up was via a generator rather than battery.

What is needed is for a sensible backup power plan to be implemented for all mobile base stations and if battery rather than generator there needs to be a workable plan to ensure that they are replaced as necessary during prolonged outages in much the same way as BT replace the batteries in their FTTC cabs.

The openreach ONT BBU is already rated to provide 2 hours backup time.

He was on about FTTP ONT�s, yep, the exchanges have their own diesel generators.

Thanks, I realised that I had crossed wires after I'd posted.

Nevertheless I feel that OFCOM should be looking closer at the mobile operators and their base stations rather than continually pressuring Openreach to do more whilst not permitting them to charge more but rather limiting their income wherever they can.