Mobile providers will have to sync emergency warnings

Take note – story published 1 year ago

Mobile operators will have to send early warning messages to residents at the same time, as provided for by the amendments to the Civil Protection and Disaster Management Law, supported by the Saeima in the final reading on Thursday, January 12.

In order for the public and responsible authorities to be able to receive early warning statements at the same time, it is stipulated that electronic communications operators providing voice services will have to ensure the interoperability of their networks with the national early warning system using cell broadcasting technology.

The State Fire and Rescue Service will be able to provide early reporting of the population through the mobile operator with information on hazards of a different nature or disaster situations. It will be possible to implement it within a few minutes, regardless of the size of the threat area and the number of people in the area, says the amendment annotation.

Using the cell broadcasting system, the operators can send information at the same time to a large number of mobile users. This applies to all mobile phone users, irrespective of the type of communication operator and connection, including tourists using a roaming service.

In an interview with Latvijas Radio, the Chairman of the Saeima's Comprehensive State Defense Sub-Committee Igors Rajevs (United List) stressed that these changes are extremely important because they will be able to remedy the shortcomings previously identified in the reporting system.

The change will take effect 14 days after their announcement.

As previously reported by LSM, a test of emergency notification systems for cell phones carried out earlier this year by the Ministry of Defense revealed various glitches, with many people receiving messages at very different times.

The official crisis information booklet is available to download for free.

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