In California Fires, Power Outages Knock Out Modern Phones

Dayslong power outages in California are revealing an inconvenient fact about modern phones: When the electricity goes out, so do they. Power shutdowns in the state meant to prevent further fire risk have cut power to some cell towers, as well as to cable providers that sell home voice services along with television programming and internet access. The shutdowns have left hundreds of thousands of customers cut off from emergency alerts, loved ones and in some cases, access to 911. While traditional copper landline phones typically continue working during power outages, newer internet-based voice-calling services that are cheaper for providers to offer and maintain don’t. California’s public-utility commission doesn’t have rules that require service providers to have backup power for voice-over-internet service, wireless service or wireline customers on traditional telephone systems.