As power is being restored throughout the midwestern part of the US,
one interesting feature showed up. A lot of telephone companies are
using Subcriber Loop Carriers (SLCs) to provide service. Some phone
companies are using local power sources with limited battery backup
for some SLCs. With the extended power outages, central offices with
generators maintained service; however, the remote equipment didn't
have local generators. This resulted in people losing their local
loops and telephone service as the power outages lasted for days.
What does this have to with the Internet? Well, it started me thinking
about Southwestern Bell Telephone's new Project Pronto, their plan to
deploy DSL. As part of this, my understanding of the technology, is
the increased equipment huts and remote locations without the same backups
found in central offices.