Interesting point #2. That may be needed if one is unable to describe one’s exact location.
I don’t know about #1 though. I’m pretty sure a cell phone will work in a power failure. Or am I not getting something?
Cell phones do have the E911 service.
Of course, if you carry your phone and you run off a cliff 20 miles from your home, they won’t be able to locate you via your address.
But, then, you can’t carry your landline with you when you go out, because the cord isn’t long enough.
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Some, I don’t know the extent, cellphones have GPS tracking built in.
The answer to point #1 is:
In the event of power failure your cell phone tower is subject to power failure. In fact, the best the cell tower can do to maintain power is somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes via battery backup.
Multiply that scenario times the number of cell towers in a given area and the problem is exponentially large.
Compare that to the local telecom who can keep their CO’s powered for as long as 96 hours off the electrical grid.
Well the communications act of 1934 had a demand that the phone companies will deliver AC power to each phone in its territory.
This would enable communications not matter what, short of the local CO or Tandem switch losing power. But, the Disaster Planning mandate forced the telecoms to install failsafes via battery and generator.
So when I discuss change of service with my customers I always ask if they have an alarm system or a fax machine so they can send and receive calls in the event of a disaster or emergency.
In the event of power failure your cell phone will absolutely work. However, it is likely the cell tower has also lost it’s power and your cell phone will not have the capability to transmit.
The towers have minimal battery backup and I have not seen one with diesel generators as backup.
I would say less than 10% of cell towers have any redundancy in the even of power failure.
Your local CO delivering POTS lines will have Marine Battery backup and Diesel Generators.
If you live next to a police station, fire department or hospital you will be in luck as the system is designed for near zero failure.
The problem at that point will be trying call some other destination out of that grid sector as they will likely not have disaster redundancy built in.