Aren't all cable supposed to have back up powers from power outages?

Ant asked:

Yes, cable TV and TWC Digital Home Phone service, as well.

Not that I've ever heard or seen, nor have I ever seen them have any sort of battery backup for short term outages.

They don't.

The only phones that run indefinitely during power outages are the old copper-wire-from-the-central-office-to-the-home landlines. A close second is Verizon wireless, because their cell towers have backup power. [Other cellphone companies may have improved in this regard in the last 10 years or so; I don't know.]

Here's what TWC's FAQ at

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I understand that when my power goes out, my Home Phone service will also go out. What can I do to maintain service in the event of a power outage?

Time Warner Cable Home Phone is not a self-powered service. Even though there are no guaranteed methods of supplying backup power during an electrical outage, we do offer some helpful tips on how to best prepare for an electrical outage at twc.com/powerbackup.

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HTH, -WBE

Thanks. That's a bummer. I was expecting cable's digital phone service to be like old fashion copper wire phone services. :(

Now you know one reason VOIP service costs less than POTS service. And a side effect of de-regulation.

As a victim of hurricane Sandy who spent weeks without electrical power, I can tell you that the cable system ran here for about 1/2 day after all of the electric power was taken out. There are battery backups for the local cable company's kit but not enough to maintain the system for long. This gave many false hope the morning after that both electrical and communica- tions would be quickly restored.