Telephone and Internet services can be connected to your home in one of four ways: copper wire (traditional, twisted pair), coaxial cable (traditional “cable”), fiber optic cable, or wireless (via fixed wireless and cellular networks). Regardless of the type of connection, power is needed in order to make calls and access the internet, both of which are important during emergencies. The following describes how these services are impacted during a power outage and what you can do to be prepared.
Voice Services. In today’s communications environment, voice services can be delivered via copper wire (known as Plain Old Telephone Service, or POTS), the Internet (via coaxial or fiber optic cable using Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP), or wirelessly (via fixed wireless or a cellular network).
Voice service provided using copper wire (POTS) receives power from the network, so as long as the telephone company’s central office has power, your telephone service will continue to work during a power outage at your home. All these POTS copper wires, however, are being replaced over time with coaxial or fiber optic cables. Voice services offered over these newer facilities use a technology known as Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP. VOIP services are not powered from the network, so they require a “battery back-up unit”, or BBU, at your home.
Most home-based batteries are supplied by the service provider and are located inside your home but must be maintained by you. They typically last about four to eight hours, so it’s wise to know where your BBU is located and to have extra batteries on hand. Some homeowners install a separate battery backup, known as an Uninterruptible Power Supply, or UPS, which can be used to run computers and other electronic devices in the event of a power outage. Homeowners also can install whole-house power systems that use generators to supply electricity during power outages.
Example: Verizon. To help ensure that your Verizon Fios phone service operates during a power outage, Verizon provides a BBU that maintains power for a limited time. The original Fios installations used a special 12-volt rechargeable battery that lasted about eight hours (of wait time, not talk time) after power goes out. For residential customers (two lines or fewer), Verizon now offers a BBU that uses twelve conventional D-cell batteries.
This D-cell tray unit provides power for twenty hours of talk time, or twenty-five hours on standby. It has an on-off switch, allowing the customer to control battery usage. Verizon estimates the batteries will last about seven years with the switch in the off position, or about one year if the unit is on, as long as no actual power is being drawn. Moreover, a customer can keep a stock of D-cell batteries on the shelf and replace them for additional battery life if a power outage extends beyond twenty-five hours.
When Verizon requires copper customers to migrate to fiber, it will provide the BBU free of charge. Existing Fios customers who wish to retrofit their homes with the newer BBU, or new Fios customers, pay $39.99 for the unit, plus a service charge for the installation.
Internet Services. Your home internet access service is different from voice service in terms of what happens when you experience a power outage. Unless you have a way to power your modem and router (which typically require 120-volt power), Internet service you receive over coaxial, or fiber optic cables will not work. A UPS capable of providing 120-volt power or a whole-house generator would be able to power the modem and router, but a BBU designed to keep your VOIP voice service up and running during a power outage will not.
Example: Comcast. Comcast has a product designed to continue to provide Internet service during a power outage in your home, called Storm-Ready WiFi. It is a BBU that runs on batteries for up to four hours when fully charged. When power goes out, the Storm-Ready device automatically switches over to a cellular network to allow you to continue to use the Internet. The device is available for purchase and there are no recurring monthly fees. Comcast notes, however, that the device is available only to customers who subscribe to an Xfinity Internet service with 800 Mbps service or higher. Also, during a power outage, Internet speeds will be reduced to up to 30 Mbps download and 7 Mbps upload.
Wireless Services. Many people rely on their cell phones to operate during a power outage for voice services and even for Internet service. As long as your cell phone remains charged during the outage, you should be able to make calls and access the internet using your phone. Keep in mind, however, that your neighbors may also be using the cellular networks for Internet communications. The networks are not designed for a large number of people in the same general location to access the service at the same time, and the network can easily become overwhelmed. Also keep in mind that power outages affecting your neighborhood could impact the network’s cell towers in the area, which also rely on electric power. Those towers have their own back-up power supplies, which may last for many hours, but not forever.
If you subscribe to a fixed wireless internet service, such as that provided by T-Mobile, that service will not operate during a power outage unless you are able to power the modem and router during the outage. To do that, you will need to connect the modem/router to a UPS that provides 120-volt power, or to a generator.