Post-lunch snooze plans dashed as the UK tests its Emergency Alerts... again Mobile networks across the UK are once again set to panic their users this afternoon as part of a test of the government's Emergency Alerts system – causing selected mobiles to "make a loud, siren-like sound." Due to launch for full operation this summer, the government Emergency Alerts system is a messaging platform designed …
"If you opt out because you do not want flood warnings, for example, you might miss alerts for fires and terrorism"
Well I live on a bloody great hill in a small village, so unless we're going to get alerts for sheep (or more likely deer) on the road, I'll take my chances thanks.
I've had a few hurricane/severe storm/waterspout/twister warnings on my TV and radio in the US. The first scared the stuffing out of me as it hadn't been ovious there was anything coming. Then when the very strong winds and the horizontal but torrential rain started it was horrific.
Missed this afternoons test my feature phone didn't get it at all. My smartphone was on Wifi only because there's no signal on the network that it's on where I'm working. I'm clearly doomed.
"Every compatible mobile phone or tablet in range of a mast..." seems rather selective, even if you're not in a zero signal zone and have your phone charged and on all the time. As a disaster warning system, could this really be a surreptitious plan to ensure preferential survival of urban tech fanbois?
They used to have bloody great sirens on long poles, which everyone in reasonable range (typically a mile or so) could hear without any high tech intermediary device. The detail was broadcast by radio on multiple bands so practically anyone could listen in on a massive range of alternative radio sets when alerted by the siren. Much simpler, much more universally accessible, and proven to work many times.
You're right, they only want to alert people in good mobile coverage areas. You don't have to be in range of 'a mast', but rather 'a 4G or 5G mast'
https://www.gov.uk/alerts/how-alerts-work
> Mobile phone networks
> Emergency alerts work on all 4G and 5G phone networks in the UK.
> Phones and tablets connected to a 2G or 3G network will not receive emergency alerts.
Phones and tablets connected to a 2G or 3G network will not receive emergency alerts.
Why not? I thought emergency alerts was the new non-specific anxiety-inducing name for the old cell broadcast, which we all had on our chocolate-bar Nokias.
Sorry, I only have a 3G phone and I matter (to me at least) It does what I need and does it well (voice, text, email, basic web) I couldn't care less about super download speeds or any other sh!t. I certainly don't need no Google or Apple sh!t, tracking me, following me, analysing me.
Though as I also use a 4G data dongle I can happily state that 4G in reality is no faster than 3G.
London flood defences worked as planned: they raised the level of the canal upstream (where I live) so London was safe. The canal level rose until it overflowed into the river (which flows back into the canal further down stream). The alert meant I went out to look at the really long waterfall over the tow path. It looked very cool. They need not bother with the alert again. 30 hours of continuous rain sends a clear message by itself.
At least it's easy to opt out - for a very large number of people, just do nothing... the fact that they are not using an iOS 14.5+ or Android 11+ device, and/or aren't connected to a 4G/5G network will do the trick!
As already pointed out, radio/TV aletts and large outdoor speakers would be far more effective, social media would do the rest. Probably much cheaper and more reliable too.
That's alright, because the first time I get one of those, my 4G SIM goes into the 4G router I can carry in my pocket and my phone goes into wifi only / no-SIM mode.
Still get data, still get texts, can still make calls (VoIP, etc.) but won't be bothered by other people's "tests", alerts or anything else because the router literally doesn't have a method to alert me (no speaker).
If you keep it for absolute and targeted emergencies, we're good. If we start getting that "wake the entire nation at 3am because of a vulnerable adult who's gone on a bus ride on their own" nonsense like America get, you can alert the inside of a silicon chip as far as I'm concerned.
Yeah, ask the Americans about that.
As I said... 3am alerts for a missing vulnerable adult 600 miles away, in a category that you can't turn off.
If they can't keep their testing silent (there's no need for a test to actually alert a user, just have the handset acknowledge or display a message is fine), I don't hold out any hope that they'll categorise future alerts correctly (e.g. exactly like the Americans haven't done).
It will alert 1% of the population and be hailed as a massive success. But don't worry it will only ever be triggered from orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters. So in the case of nuclear war it will probably activate 3-6 months after the initial flash
Do you think they will let us customise the alert tone to something like this: https://youtu.be/dtNgOeqBKQU?t=62
I guess it'll work really well then for ... oh, how about a small area of flooding in Lancaster. Oh wait - the power went off and the mobile networks stopped working.
See One city’s experience of coping with loss of power(PDF). It's a good read and should be mandatory reading for anyone with even a passing interest in resilience planning. Among the "if it's not on Faecesborg then it didn't happen" generation, it must have been quite a shock to find that mobiles don't work without power both for the phone and the infrastructure that gets an Internet connection to it.
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