PAYPHONES AND HARD-WIRED PHONES REMAIN MOST RELIABLE

A big lesson learned in the blackout was that a cordless phone shouldn’t be the only one to have at home, FCC Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Dane Snowden said. “Everyone should keep in the closet an old-fashioned hard- wired telephone,” a Verizon spokesman agreed. U.S. manufacturers in the period from Jan. to June shipped 10.6 million traditional wired phones to retailers, compared with 16.8 million cordless units, according to data provided by the Consumer Electronic Assn. (CEA). Sean Wargo, CEA dir.- industry analysis, estimated that 84% of households in the U.S. had cordless phones. However, he said: “It’s likely that most of them have regular phone backup.” Wargo predicted that in 2003, 43.4 million cordless phones and 30 million of corded ones would be shipped.

The northeast also proved that “there’s always going to be a need for payphones,” the Verizon spokesman said. For example, he said, during 9/11, payphones suspended payments for calls, “demonstrating that [they] are an incredible resource. People [Thurs.] night were using them left and right.”

Verizon, the biggest payphone provider in the U.S., said the number of payphones it operated had dropped to 360,000 from 420,000 in the last 3 years. According to the FCC, the total of payphones dropped to 1,495,786 in 2003 from 2,121,526 in 1999. “Cutting [the number of payphones] is an ongoing process,” the Verizon spokesman said. However, he said “so many of the unprofitable payphones are gone” that the process has slowed: “What you see is what you are going to have.”

Despite cuts, the company “chose to reinforce” its payphone business by cost cutting through removing unprofitable ones and increasing revenue by introducting new services: “Sounds like we found a magic formula.” He said the company would keep an unprofitable payphone if the location management agreed to subsidize it at $45 per month. And, despite significant reductions in payphones, “for those still in place, we invent new services,” such allowing people to make 3 min. calls to any country in the world for 25 cents from certain of its payphones. “The blackout affirms that our business plan is correct,” the Verizon spokesman said: “Payphones can be profitable and can certainly support the customers’ needs. We'll continue to try to maintain payphone services.”

Following the power blackout, phone companies rushed to ensure their customers that wireline service was up and running in the affected areas. An SBC spokesman said the company network continued to serve customers throughout its 13 states, with some of the facilities operating on backup power. The Verizon spokesman said the company’s wireline network, which had to handle about 3 times more traffic than usual between 4 and 5 p.m. on Thurs., “operated about 99.9% perfection.” He said there were “a couple of places” where service was affected because of “troubles with the switching” due to overheating, but it was back to normal by Fri. morning. Verizon said it converted its call-routing centers to diesel backup immediately after commercial power was lost, and said its Enhanced 911 (E911) emergency services weren’t affected.

Diesel power generators, which turn on in case of commercial power interruptions, can last 2-3 days, the Verizon spokesman said. He said some businesses that used private branch exchanges could experience problems with their phone systems even if the phone networks were up and running. However, he said, a Centrex switch, which runs out of the main switch, will keep the system operational despite power cuts.

Commenting on the blackout, the FCC’s Snowden emphasized that the E911 program was “critical, and we push state and local governments to implement it.” He said consumers should check with their service providers on availability of E911 service. Snowden also encouraged consumers “not to panic” in case of emergency and make calls only “as needed. If they have difficulty [getting through], they should wait” before they try again as the delay meant that “the network has reached its capacity… It’s important that people realize that it takes time and patience” when using telephone equipment in emergency situations because problems can occur as too many “people do exactly the same thing at the same time.” He also encouraged consumers to use text messaging as an alternative. Snowden also urged consumers to visit the CGB Web site for tips on what to do in case of emergency. -- www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/emergencies.html