3G Americas warns against text warning systems

3G Americas, the club promoting GSM networks in the Americas, has released a report pointing out that SMS is useless as an emergency notification system, even claiming that using the text network that way could interfere with life-saving services. The snappily-titled Characterizing the Limitations of Third-Party EAS Over …

[Gareth Davies]

I thought............

I thought there were already GSM protocols in place that could deal with this in a better way, such as Cell info/Area info. This is based on the SMS cell broadcst system.....see this:

http://www.gsm-modem.de/sms-cell-broadcast.html

I hope they haven't missed the implications of this and tried to use the standard SMS system when a major notification system already exists.

Sounds like they sent in the consultant.................should have sent Paris.

[Matthew]

Delays of 2 hours or more are not uncommon?

I have never had any problem with my 3g phone, infact it is a hell of alot more reliable than my old CDMA phone which would regularly delay texts. Even on New Years night i was still able to make a call on it. Perhaps the Americans are *still* behind on the tech front?

[Simon Painter]

for this read...

"we don't like the idea of paying for all the capacity that an emergency notification system would require so we are going to talk the government out of it so they don't insert it in as a clause in our license"

Oh, and Avast!

[Richard Ormson]

@Gareth

This does indeed exist on GSM. But there are a number of drawbacks - not least of which is that the majority of operators don't implement it and most users have never heard of it.

The existing US emergency alert systems are good old fashioned point-to-point SMS that the users have to opt-in to. Understandable that there is a bit of a capacity problem...

[David Simpson]

assuming?

I don't want to be warned of what the government considers emergencies?

You bet I don't that way there's a fair chance I won't get killed in the stampede of panicked morons wound up to snapping point by the Daily Mail.

Can you imagine how bad the "tanks at Heathrow" stunt would have been if in addition they'd texted every Mail reader inside the M25 about it? The M1 would have been nose to tail 4x4s full of fat children and their mothers fleeing the (non-existent) disaster.

[James Bassett]

Bit late

Wish they'd mentioned this before we went an implemented an SMS based emergency notification system, in conjunction with th service provider, who can adjust the priority based on the message source (i.e. give US priority when we need) several years ago. We thought it had been working perfectly this last five years but apparantly not. We do have an entirely separate backup system consisting of receiving a pager notification - over a dedicated network - and then using Tetra radios to contact control but it has, thus far, not been needed.

[SImon Hobson]

2 hours ?

Pah, I've had texts take 2 days (or more) to arrive !

I think the operators are right here, in the event of an emergency, the network will be heading for collapse anyway - so the idea of loading it up with millions of extra texts, prompting many extra calls by panicked users, seems like a particularly silly idea.

[Colin Millar]

Govt inspired spiral of doom

Of course when this is in place it will by itself completely kill any network that it is on.

As the definition of an emergency becomes more and more diluted by fear of litigation these networks will be swamped with the constant massive traffic and most people will have become so bored with the "small cloud seen fifty miles offshore - brace yourselves for a very light shower" messages that they will probably ignore everything from the "Emergency" service.

[Anonymous Coward]

there's so many problems with this

Not the least of which is that I don't own a cell phone. So who gets to decide what's important to who, in what area, for how wide an area, to use what resources to broadcast, at what level of warning (will this be like the moronic terror threat level system?).... time to re-think this whole, stupid idea, innit?

Paris, 'cos even she knows better.

[druck]

New Year

Anyone who wants to see how well an SMS emergency alert system would work only has to wait another couple of months until new year. Right on the dot of midnight everyone sends a "Happy New Year" text to everyone in their address book. I've still been receiving them on the evening of January 2nd.