Thursday, 12 July 2018 11:46

Notice: Phone Service from Blue Ridge Cable now lacks emergency battery backup

To whom it may concern:

Until recently, with Blue Ridge Cable's phone service, the modem came with a battery backup.  This way, if the power at your house goes out, you can still call 911 while the battery is still charged (approx. 4 hours).

Now, Blue Ridge's modems are the new "DOCSIS 3.1" technology, and they don't include a battery!  They now require you to purchase the battery separately (see below).  Customers that still have the old DOCSIS 3.0 modems will continue to have battery backup available until Blue Ridge replaces that modem.  

For now, my suggestion is that you purchase your own "UPS" battery backup (Amazon link) instead, so that you can plug not only your cable modem, but also your WiFi router, cell phone, laptop, etc.

Source:
http://www.brctv.com/terms-and-conditions-0

Q. DIGITAL PHONE BATTERY BACKUP

Your Blue Ridge Digital Phone service utilizes telephone equipment that is connected to your home’s power. During a power outage, you will not have access to phone service or e911 unless a battery is installed and attached to the telephone equipment (“EMTA”) at your home (emphasis added). Blue Ridge currently supports two types of EMTAs: EMTAs and EMTA 3.1s. Effective June 22, 2018, EMTAs and EMTA 3.1s do not come with a backup battery, but they are available for purchase upon request.

Backup battery service for EMTAs can provide up to eight hours of standby service or up to four hours of talk time using a telephone that itself does not require power and is directly connected to the EMTA’s jack. Twenty-four hour batteries are also available to purchase for EMTAs; they can provide up to 24 hours of standby service or up to eight hours of talk time. Backup battery service for EMTA 3.1s can provide up to eight hours of standby service or up to three hours of talk time. Twenty-four hour batteries for EMTA 3.1s are coming soon.

Backup batteries are available for purchase from Blue Ridge at any of our retail locations, when you order Blue Ridge Digital Phone service, or by contacting us at 1-800-CABLE 77. Backup batteries may also be purchased after you have had Digital Phone service installed. Blue Ridge cannot guarantee that batteries purchased from sources other than Blue Ridge will be compatible with the EMTA provided by Blue Ridge.

You have the option of either picking up a battery at one of Blue Ridge’s offices or having the battery mailed to you. Please make sure to refer to the installation instructions included with the battery package.

Last modified on Wednesday, 15 December 2021 13:21

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