Fibre network operators say they are ready for stage 6 power cuts

Jan

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Good news for fibre connections during Eskom’s Stage 6 power cuts

South Africa’s fibre network operators have told MyBroadband that they have sufficient backup power to keep their networks online during stage 6 load-shedding.

Eskom announced stage 6 power cuts on Tuesday afternoon after warning earlier in the day that trips at ten generating units combined with illegal strikes at several power stations could cause escalated load-shedding.
 
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With the mobile networks providers would make the same claim.

And DSL for that matter.
 
With the mobile networks providers would make the same claim.

And DSL for that matter.
Telkom's got some pretty good backup systems at their exchanges. The only worry there would be running out of diesel.
For mobile operators it's a bit tricky as their cabinets at base stations are pretty small, so no room for big backup systems.
 
Telkom's got some pretty good backup systems at their exchanges. The only worry there would be running out of diesel.
For mobile operators it's a bit tricky as their cabinets at base stations are pretty small, so no room for big backup systems.
I don't think our local exchange is running on a generator during outages - unless the guy is filling it between "sheds" with ever decreasing amounts of fuel.
 
I don't think our local exchange is running on a generator during outages - unless the guy is filling it between "sheds" with ever decreasing amounts of fuel.
If it's a big exchange then it'll have one. It's supposed to start automatically. If it doesn't then it's either been vandalized or poorly maintained.
 
If it's a big exchange then it'll have one. It's supposed to start automatically. If it doesn't then it's either been vandalized or poorly maintained.
Guess it's not, because it doesn't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Like the cellphone towers it starts off strong but fades towards the end. Didn't used to.
 
Guess it's not, because it doesn't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Chances are it had one, but was perhaps "repossessed" some time ago.
Like the cellphone towers it starts off strong but fades towards the end. Didn't used to.
I would guess they probably running on batteries when mains fail.
Loadshedding's pretty harsh on those lead acids.
 
What is the power consumption of one of these fibre nodes?
At most probably 100-300 watts in the cabinets

Most of the stuff is anyway 48V so no conversion is made, that's what Vodacom uses just off my feedback from their equipment

Sites with Antennas they have around 6-8 Lithium 5Kw batteries
 
Sites with Antennas they have around 6-8 Lithium 5Kw batteries
That's quite impressive. So the sites that do go down with loadshedding, has either had their batteries stolen or significantly weakened by all those power cuts.
 
At least Internet has been working throughout loadshedding. Hate driving even more now lol
 
I don't think our local exchange is running on a generator during outages - unless the guy is filling it between "sheds" with ever decreasing amounts of fuel.
When I still had ADSL it lasted max 20minutes. But I was too far from the actual exchange and connected to a mini DSLAM down the road.
 
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