Quote:
Originally Posted by Broadsword2004
One reason I like a land line with an older phone is that older phones draw their power directly through the line, so even if the electricity goes out, the phone still works because the phone line is almost always buried. Now, if the electricity goes out, with all of these newer phones people have that require being plugged into an electrical outlet to work, they are without a working phone. And if they just a cell phone, if the electricity is down, they can't recharge it.
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Not exactly.
Landlines, like water distribution, are contingent on a power supply to keep them working.
IIRC, phones work on 48v. DC current, transformed from grid power, with a battery and possibly generator backup. In the event of grid power failure, the batteries supply power until they are drained, or the generator runs out of fuel.
The numbers used to be 72 hours of back-up power for the land-line phone system.
Interestingly enough, the cell towers have back-up generators which the local service tech tells me is about the same 72-hour run time for the on-site gensets providing back-up power to the towers.
Most Americans have less than three days worth of food in their homes.
If the grid goes down (EMP, hacked, failure of aging components, etc.), then in three days or less, the phones will quit working, food at home will run out, gas stations will be out, the water quits flowing (and the toilets quit working). If this happens nationwide, what do you think the hungry people will do to feed their children?
TR