Vodafone-UK-Battery-Backup-Unit
Broadband, mobile and phone provider Vodafone UK has today announced that they’ve teamed up with rival ISPs BT, KCOM and Zen Internet to help bring an improved Broadband Battery Backup (BBU) device for WiFi routers to market, which is said to be capable of powering a customers broadband router (inc. digital phone/voice service) for up to 4-to-7 hours.
At present, many ISPs already provide a BBU to “vulnerable customers” who have taken their IP-based digital voice/phone services (these are usually free). The BBU is designed to ensure that the customer’s router still works when there’s a power cut, which means they’re able to make an emergency call using an existing handset. Regular customers can often also get one of these, but it will typically attract an additional cost.
NOTE: Remember to make your ISP aware if you’re classed as “vulnerable“, which typically includes people who may be unemployed, suffering from serious disabilities / medical conditions or financial hardships etc.
However, most existing BBUs are only designed to meet or just about exceed Ofcom’s current minimum requirement, which means that they can only provide power to the above kit for “at least an hour” if there’s a power cut. Suffice to say that longer outages, which are more likely to occur in rural areas, can be problematic. But last year saw the government pushing providers to introduce BBU’s that could potentially last “up to” 8 hours (here).
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All of this is relevant because the industry is currently in the process of retiring legacy phone services (PSTN/WLR) that were dependent upon copper lines (note: the copper lines themselves aren’t being completely retired, yet, just the phone service that goes over the top). One advantage of this old method is that the lines could be powered from an exchange, thus BBU’s were not required, but this is not possible with modern digital equivalents (especially if fibre optic / FTTP lines are involved as these cannot carry electricity).
The plan to switch-off older phone lines was recently delayed by BT and Openreach to 31st January 2027 in order to give internet and phone providers, as well as telecare providers and consumers, more time to adapt (details). The plan to introduce a new BBU forms part of that response and is designed to “help protect landline-dependent customers from disconnection during emergencies such as power cuts,” said Vodafone.
Crucially, the new BBU (pictured – top) exceeds Ofcom’s requirements as it provides up to 4-7 hours of connectivity and Vodafone said they are also making these devices “available for wholesale” to other ISPs, which initially appears to also include BT, KCOM and Zen Internet. The benefit of this likely stems from economics of scale – larger batteries tend to be much more expensive, but some of that can be mitigated through manufacturing volume.
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