Extended power outages, which are likely to recur in California, are revealing an inconvenient truth about modern telephones: no power, no phone service. Power outages cut service to cell towers and to cable providers that sell home voice services, often advertised as land lines. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of households may be cut off from essential communication, including, in some cases, 911 service.
Traditional copper landline phones typically function during power outages because they transmit power from the phone company’s facilities which normally have backup power.
All comments and suggestions are welcome.
Walter J. Kirchberger, CFA