While not a battery crisis, in recent years some customers have waited up to a year for traditional flooded lead-acid batteries, and the backlog is four to six months for valve-regulated (VRLA) types. "The manufacturing capacity margin has gone away relatively quickly. The obvious solution is ultimately to add capacity," says Steve Vechy, director of marketing at Yuasa-Exide.

But that won't happen in a hurry. Environmental issues are involved in developing new facilities. Then there's the "triple power equation" of more calls, average length of call, and data rate/power-per-line that makes it "virtually impossible to forecast the future in central offices and the access network even a year in advance," says Barry Papermaster, director of marketing at Lucent.

Further, most telecom customers will spend a premium for backup power if they can get it right now. That's because Internet profits are expanding as we speak; spending big now still makes sense for the time it takes to get a backup source of choice. In this case it's still flooded lead-acid, with a 10- to 20-year life span, acknowledged as superior to VRLAs with a maximum lifespan that's considerably less (six to seven years) due to its recombinatorial chemistry.

What's the solution? Industry consensus is for customers to buy the most management-efficient UPS one can find and back them up with VRLAs, which in their favor have a better power-density footprint than flooded types. Or, buy higher up on the distribution chain. Or use other battery types, even NiCds, as is done in Europe. Where more battery is ultimately needed, "we're seeing customers buy VRLAs and put in an order for flooded after two years," noted Alan Katz, product manager at MGE UPS Systems. High-end VRLAs (lifespans to 10 years and more reportedly available) and expensive 20-year lead-acid types are around. But don't expect a grand increase in their use.

Meanwhile, there's hope. "Manufacturing capacity is expanding slowly," notes Katz. "I think it will catch up in two to three years."