FCC Battery Backup Disclosure

Maintaining Telephone Capability During Electrical Outages

Runestone Telecom has two delivery methods for our service, copper, and fiber (also known as Fiber to the Home). Customers who are on our copper wire are connected to one of our central offices and will not have an interruption to their telephone service in the event of a power outage, as long as the customer uses a corded phone. You may want to consider maintaining at least one corded phone to use during power outages.

If you are one of our customers on a fiber connection, you have an optical network terminal (also known as an ONT) at your home. Runestone Telecom’s telephone service requires this ONT to be powered by a power supply plugged into an electrical outlet. If the ONT loses power, your telephone services will not work, including 911 and any home, security and medical monitoring that relies on our telephone service unless you have a backup power source such as the backup battery in your ONT or a generator. Runestone Telecom provides a battery backup to every home during the initial Fiber to the Home install. Depending on when fiber was initially installed at your home, your battery may or may not last a full eight hours in a power outage. Customers wishing to guarantee that their ONT includes a battery rated to last eight hours in a power outage may purchase a new ONT battery from Runestone Telecom for $15. The battery that you may purchase from Runestone Telecom is rated by its manufacturer to last for at least 8 hours in idle mode and provide 6 hours of talk time when the battery is new. The battery is intended to enable users to make short, emergency or other urgent telephone calls.

Purchase and Replacement Options

Replacement 8 hour ONT batteries are available for purchase at our office in Hoffman for $15 plus any applicable taxes. If you return your old battery, we will refund the $15. You may have the battery shipped to you for an additional fee of $20. If you do not feel comfortable installing your own battery, please call us to make an appointment and we would be happy to assist you. A labor charge of $60 per hour will apply for battery installation.

Replacement 24 hour extended outage ONT batteries are also available for purchase at our office in Hoffman for $345 plus any applicable taxes.  You may have the battery shipped to you for an additional fee of $20.  If you do not feel comfortable installing your own battery, please call us to make an appointment and we would be happy to assist you.  A labor charge of $60 per hour will apply for battery installation.  The extended outage ONT will provide an expected service availability of 24 hours based on typical usage, which is impacted by talk time and is not guaranteed.

If you have any questions about the ONT battery or would like to purchase a replacement battery, please call our office at 320-986-2013.

Instructions for Proper Care, Use & Monitoring of Your Battery

Please follow the more detailed instructions included with your battery for proper use, storage and care of your battery to ensure that it will function as needed during a power outage. If you do not store your battery correctly, it may shorten its useful life. Environmental factors such as temperature can shorten your battery’s useful life. We recommend that you store your battery above 41°F and below 104°F. If properly maintained, the life of a battery is 3 -5 years. At the end of the useful battery life, the battery LED light will be on and we will receive an alarm notification in our software indicating that you need a battery replacement.

Warranty Information

The battery comes with a one year warranty.