NTL Telephone Line has no battery backup

Last night at 8:30pm the power went off here. When I picked up the phone to call the electricity company, I was surprised to find the phone was also dead.

Unlike BT lines which go all the way back to the telephone exchange where there is battery and generator backup in the event of a mains failure, NTL lines only go back as far as the nearest street cabinet, where it is connected onto the fibre. According to Oftel/Ofcom requirements, NTL a required to provide a ‘lifeline’ service i.e. you are still able to use the phone in a power failure.

The phone came back along with the power, at 9:45pm. Good job, it wasn’t a real emergency.

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