Question : Problem: T1 repeaters

I have been working on a disaster recovery plan for my company for the last couple months and I have almost everything worked out with the exception of one thing.... the T1's.

I have had several conversions with my carrier about how they are powered. I was able to find out that it is powered through the lines but there are several repeaters between the CO and my building. My next question was "Are these repeaters self sustaining or are they hooked up to some sort of backup?" This is where I got stuck. I was referred to the owner of the repeaters, Qwest. When I contacted them, I was told they were proprietary and the chance of me finding out this information was slim to none.

Is there anyone that knows much about this at all? I can understand that if we lose power to the building, we more than likely won't lose power to the T1's. But what if we lose power in a 10 or 20 block radius? Is the power outage going to effect the repeater? If it is, is that one repeater going down going to effect the power to the T's?

Another thing I would like to know is how are these powered? Even though they are proprietary, there has to be something that can be found out...

Thanks!

Answer : Problem: T1 repeaters

Unlike an analog phone line, there is no requirement to provide ring voltage or to power the end device on a T1 line. T1 being digital, requires external AC power to each component. Your site has the T1 demarcation "smartjack" - as giltjr mentioned above, this device is typically mounted on a backboard in your telco closet usually with a CAT5 cable between it and your CSU/DSU. The equipment at the telco's CO is typically protected by UPS' and generators.
As long as you provide AC power protection with UPS' and generators of your own to everything in your own closet, then you have done everything you can do. The telco has legal requirements and SLA guarantees to maintain that gives them incentive to provide redundant power at every location along the path of the T1 and you are worrying about things outside your control and even outside your sphere of influence.