On Mon, 14 Oct 2019, Michael Thomas wrote:
Of course this is a lot of conjecture on my part... be glad to be clued in by
folks in know.
An old news story, but telco's usually have backup batteries in their
outside plant, cell towers, etc. During power outages, they shuttle small
generators between outside cabinets to re-charge the batteries. Remote
Terminal Units (RTUs) use local power, i.e. look for the utility meter
nearby. There is often a generator plug and battery cabinet next to the
RTU. They aren't powered from the central office.
Some cable systems have battery and/or generator backup on their "I-Net"
cable plant serving government and major businesses, but not on their
residential cable plant. I don't know Comcast's business practices.
Old news story:
https://www.multichannel.com/news/att-will-replace-batteries-after-fires-130936
ORIGINAL: JAN 18, 2008
AT&T Will Replace Batteries After Fires
City officials, long critical of the size and placement of powering
cabinets needed to back up AT&T’s U-verse TV video service, now have
concerns beyond aesthetics. Sometimes, the cabinets explode.
AT&T acknowledged the problem and said it would replace 17,000 lithium
batteries in outdoor cabinets around the country.
[...]
The steel cabinets house controls and backup power supplies for the video
network.
“They’ve been pretty cooperative,” Kesner said of AT&T. “We’re in a
holding pattern” regarding the video deployment, he said.
[...]
