AT&T U-verse batteries going supernova

AT&T is looking to replace 17,000 backup batteries in U-verse equipment cabinets all over the country over concerns that they can explode. Those are confirmed concerns, too, as there have been four confirmed incidents since October 2006. Explosions have occurred in Houston, Cleveland and Wisconsin; the Wisconsin incident reportedly was strong enough to blow the 50-pound cabinet door off its bolts. The bad news for AT&T is that the battery manufacturer, Avestor, filed for bankruptcy in October 2006 and is no longer in business. What's worse is that a consulting firm hired to examine the first incidents deemed the battery design ok, and chalked up the explosions to "manufacturing defects." So now AT&T has taken it upon itself to spend some big bucks to locate and replace the already-in-service (and obviously widely dispersed) lithium metal polymer batteries.

[Via TVOver, image courtesy of LightReading]

EDIT: Spelling error fixed (thanks, Bryce!) and photo credit changed (thanks, Phil!).