Why is your landline phone dead? [telecom]

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Gone are the days of reliable copper wires. Our fancy new phones need old-fashioned backup.

By Lisa M. Krieger

Our fancy new Internet-based home or office phones are the communication tool of the future - cheap, efficient and versatile.

They're also, in a power outage, about as useful as a brick.

All over the Bay Area, residents who rely on these digital landline phones are feeling angry and betrayed during PGE's shutdown, unable to get even a simple dial tone.