You wouldnt get a shock from a phone line
I know this because mine was brought down by the snow back in February and I put it back up (the engineers couldnt get to me).
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Thu 3 Sep 2009, 15:30, 2 replies)

Cheers
It's nice to know I wouldn't have been killed.

Still, they were fucking useless.
(porkinator is a Rock n Roll nerd!, Thu 3 Sep 2009, 15:35, closed)

Yup
i'm with Tiscali
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Thu 3 Sep 2009, 15:46, closed)

well, to be picky:
You could get a painful shock if a Ring Signal* is sent while you're touching the wires - 50v IIRC.

* Incoming call, not Goatse.
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Thu 3 Sep 2009, 15:55, closed)

I bow down to your greater understanding of such things

( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Thu 3 Sep 2009, 16:46, closed)

And what about the current?
(Pope Jamiroquai III, Thu 3 Sep 2009, 19:54, closed)

Colonel, thankyou; but it's not so much 'greater understanding' as a 'good memory for useless tidbits'. You were technically correct* - a phone line in its default state is quite safe. However there have been cases whereby storms have brought down phone lines, but have also brought down power lines onto the phone lines, creating a circuit through the person trying to move/repair a 'harmless' phone line**.

There are rules to minimise this: Sometimes you'll have two seperate supplies, sometimes both services use the same poles in rural areas; but in almost all cases the power cables must be strung above the phone cables. This reduces the odds of a phone line contacting a power line, and also eliminates the need for phone engineers to climb above live wires to do their thing. I understand that power cables are generally better-anchored and less likely to come unstuck.

Pope; I have no idea of the actual voltage (wikipedia says: In Europe it is around 60-90 volts AC); nor any idea of the current (which would probably be dependent on how good a circuit you were making***).

* The best kind of correct.
** With a negative outcome for the would-be repairman. So if you find yourself in this situation again, be aware of the risk of that innocent cable carrying hefty voltage from another fault you can't see. Even if it's safe 'now', you never know what a distant autorecloser could be trying to do with a faulting kV line and your arse.
*** IE - how well you earthed yourself. Dangle from an overhead power line, holding on with one hand = no harm. Touch the pylon with one hand and the cable with the other = pain, much pain, closely followed by fall and death.

A disclaimer: I am not an electrician, nor a linesman; don't rely on me being accurate.
(The Incredible Sulk Finally remembered his password on, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 7:49, closed)