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Annual FCC Telephone Battery Backup Disclosure
Modern digital telephone services will not operate without power. This was not true with historical "copper land line" telephones. Today, all electronic components associated with your telephone line now require battery backup or they will stop operation during a power outage. This has become less important with the pervasiveness of cellular phones, which usually continue working during a traditional power outage, and can therefore be used in an emergency.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT IF ANY EQUIPMENT LOSES POWER TELEPHONE SERVICES WILL NOT WORK. THIS INCLUDES 911, HOME SECURITY SYSTEMS, MEDICAL MONITORING DEVICES, OR ANY OTHER SYSTEM THAT RELIES ON TELEPHONE SERVICE FOR OPERATION.
Osage Municipal Utilities have battery backups available for both our cable modem subscribers and our fiber to the premise subscribers.
CABLE MODEM SUBSCRIBERS
When your eMTA Modem (Embedded Multimedia Terminal Adapter) was originally installed, we provided a battery that is rated at a minimum of 4 hours of idle run time. In many cases this is enough as our line department and/or generation department will have power restored within this time frame. We do have batteries rated at 24 hours available for purchase if you would like a longer available run time. The 24 hour rated batteries are not available for all eMTA devices and may require us to replace the eMTA at no additional cost. eMTA battery ratings are at idle, and any calls made will drastically reduce this time, so it is recommended that during a power outage to only use you phone as necessary. This battery will only provide power for the eMTA and phone service, it will not provide power for the cable modem for internet service. It also will not provide power to any cordless phones, medical monitors, or home security devices. If you do not have a wired telephone, or a battery back up for your cordless phone, your phone service will not work, even with a battery back up installed in the eMTA.
Also please keep in mind that we do have active equipment in the plant that requires power. All active equipment is equipped with their own batteries with a minimum runtime of 4 hours. This is generally enough time for power to be restored, or generation of power to be started.
FIBER TO THE HOME/PREMISE SUBSCRIBERS
When your ONT Modem (Optical Network Terminal) was installed, a battery backup was not installed. Osage Municipal Utilities does have battery backup units rated for 24 hours of idle time available for purchase. This battery will only provide power for the eMTA and phone service, it will not provide power for the cable modem for internet service. It also will not provide power to any cordless phones, medical monitors, or home security devices. If you do not have a wired telephone, or a battery backup for your cordless phone, your phone service will not work, even with a battery backup installed in the ONT.
Also please keep in mind that we do have active equipment in the plant that requires power. All active equipment is equipped with their own batteries with a minimum runtime of 4 hours. This is generally enough time for power to be restored, or generation of power to be started.
TESTING AND MONITORING
eMTA modems perform self-testing on the batteries, and OMU can monitor the status of the eMTA batteries. If a battery does need to be replaced, there will be a charge for the battery. Most batteries will last 3 to 5 years. You can also check the status of the battery yourself. On the eMTA if the battery light is on solid, the battery is operating normally, if it is flashing, it needs to be replaced, and if it is off, the battery is not present. To test the battery manually, you can unplug your eMTA modem from power and attempt to make a test call. This will not test any other equipment outside of the eMTA modem.
The battery backup for fiber customers do not perform a self-test, and we are not able to monitor them. If the battery needs to be replaced, the battery backup unit will make an audible beep. You can perform testing on the battery backup unit by unplugging it from power and attempting to make a call.
Battery Options
eMTA Cable Modem Options
TM822/TM804 24-hour standby time $70.00
TG3452 24-hour standby time $165.00
Fiber ONT
803G 24-hour standby time $150.00
