I wonder if sat services like Starlink or Hughsnet are an option for remote/rural towns in this kind of scenario.
There's usually a few options for people with money or some technical knowledge - in addition to those, local WISPs or other ISPs are usually a better option, and sometimes cell coverage. This is one of those problems for the people who "fall through the cracks" - low income or older people. If a person with a usable cell phone and a separate ISP has issues with their landline, it won't affect their life notably. But for older people with limited technology who base their safety somewhat on "the phones will always work", if they fall or have a major health issue and there is no dial tone on the line, people will probably die. -----Original Message----- From: NANOG <nanog-bounces+colin-lists=highspeedcrow.ca@nanog.org> On Behalf Of Justin Krejci Sent: December 12, 2024 3:06 PM To: johnl@iecc.com; nanog@nanog.org Subject: Re: Need Centurylink contact for serious ongoing issue
If it's landline copper phone, it's kind of hard for a provider to see the lack of customers off hook. The electrical circuit being open is > expected until the customer picks up the load/off hooks the phone.
You might think that if nobody at all makes any calls for an hour or two, that might seem unusual. Or if no incoming calls complete.
R's, John
It might seem unusual, it might not. It depends on the eyes and it depends on the context. Maybe little rural towns don't actually get a lot of phone calls. maybe little rural towns get tons of line cuts/damage and so it's just a drop in the bucket. maybe little rural towns don't rate for much attention by ILECs due to their minimal revenue. Maybe ILEC monitoring is not robust enough to make these kinds of observations in the first place. ILEC might not care, even if they fall into the "yes, that looks unusual" category. They may not be overly concerned with unusual, just confirmed/reported outages (which sounds like OP is struggling with even that much) I wonder if sat services like Starlink or Hughsnet are an option for remote/rural towns in this kind of scenario. Perhaps the phones are down but they could send IM/chat messages or emails or what have you. Maybe time to unroll a spool of string and get some tin cans hooked up. Either way, it sounds like a pretty unfortunate situation for the people in the town and likely the friends and family of said people. Hopefully there soon is a resolution and maybe OP can send a follow-up with the outcome of this saga.