Slashdot Mirror
Major UK Comms Backbone Bunker Burned Out
evilandi writes "The BBC are reporting that much of Manchester, England is without telephone service following a fire in a major underground tunnel system. The site in question is strongly suspected to be the 'Guardian' nuclear communications bunker system which is one of the main three UK subterranean communications backbone bunkers. The giveaway is this regional BBC news story which mentions Chapel Street, one of the very few entrance/exit points to the 'Guardian' system. If confirmed, Manchester could be without wired communications for some time. The MANAP Manchester Network Access Point regional Internet hub is officially reporting nothing, but a number of UK admins are seeing significant disruption."
First verizon knocks out e911 service in NYC, now a backbone goes out in the UK, you'd think it wasn't a coincidence
Geekleak.com - Silly name, serious geeks
It's not too much of a worry. There's only about 6 people in manchester with telephones. They only just got fire you know
"while AOL said its customers in the area, who are connected to the BT network, would also experience problems."
...and they were so close to figuring out how to use internet...
does this mean none of those, "i use pounds, you insensitive clod" / "i have members of parliament, you insensitive clod" / "(insert something british here), you insensitive clod" posts today?
just kidding--i love you guys. hope this gets fixed soon!
you'd think it wasn't a coincidence
The government(s) want you to believe that it is merely a coincidence. Coincidentally, I'm currently offering virtual tinfoil hats at a 20% discount. Therein lies the difference between a fortunate and unfortunate coincidence!
Do you like German cars?
Hate me!
"People experiencing problems with their telephones were also asked not to report the fault."
Too bad they told them to wait. I can see it now, thousands of people screaming in the general direction of the phone company's office. A modern day, less funny, Monty Python sketch waiting to happen.I was almost to beating the internet! The last boss is a pain in the rear!
I almost beat him and BLAMMO the connection dies! ARG!!!
hehehe
If you cannot keep politics out of your moderation remove yourself from the Mod Lottery.. NOW!
'Cause we all know they don't have backbones.
Being british, they're able to cope with the suffering. Stiff upper lip and all that.
If it happened in the USA the public outcry would be deafening.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I was under the impression that many of these tunnels were filled with inert gasses, such as SF6
We keep sending guys to check on that, but they never come back...
I say, old chap... can you hear me now??????????
Namaste
This backup system is fire-proof, though it can be degraded by smoke and fog.
How are they supposed to wiretap everyone if the phones are out?!
..."nuke-survivable" != "fire-resistant"?
Did someone not tell the guys who designed and built this stuff that fire is a frequent side-effect of nuclear detonations?
The bloody BOFH was tired of his windowless office and needed new digs.
BOFH... England... get it?
The next pasture is always greener
With Guardian down, Colossus is going to get pissed!
That tunnel is filled with CO2 right now.
... Londoners don't have phones. Since they can't speak, they have no need of them. Instead, they make these strange (in the case of people from Essex, truly *eldritch*) braying noises that carry for two or three miles. Effective, but horrible to hear.
Where else would the phone lines be flaming?
The ______ Agenda
"Yeah, so you want the new executable then? Erm yeah, so it's zero eee wun eff bee ay ... oh sorry that's a four yeah, a four oh nine, yeah a zero oh see dee."
To be honest, I don't think I can shout quite far enough anyway.
It's your punishment for giving the world Morrisey.
You mean unlike today, where anything we build now will be payed for by our grandchildren. :-)
Modded funny??? Insightful, maybe, pathetically true, maybe, but definitely not funny.
Engineer ordered to remove oxygen from tunnel, takes own initative before consulting line manager
My spelling isn't bad, I'm evolving the language