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-130... 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. [...]