2024-09-13 20:18:36
Cell Broadcast has been an effective warning system for cell phones since the 1990s, but it has hardly been used in Germany so far. What’s behind it.
When a disaster occurs, it is important that citizens are warned quickly. During the flood disaster in 2021, for example, early warnings were not given in many places – with devastating consequences. Over 180 people died and hundreds were injured.
The warning apps “Katwarn” and “Nina”, which the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) relies on, only reach a portion of the population – because only those who have installed the apps and configured them correctly can be warned. However, there has been a system since the 1990s that allows authorities to send warnings to every cell phone: Cell Broadcast.
Until 2021, however, hardly anyone in this country had this on their radar, and the BBK did not seem particularly willing to introduce the system in addition to its app strategy. After the information debacle surrounding the flood disaster, the then-serving Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer made the decision to introduce the system after all.
It was tested nationwide for the first time on Warning Day 2022 – with success. According to a study by the BKK, over 54 percent of those surveyed received a warning via this system. This makes cell broadcast the most effective system in the evaluation.
But what cell broadcast actually is, how it works – and why people in Germany didn’t want to know anything about it for so long: answers to the most important questions.
Cell Broadcast (CB) is a warning system for cell phones that has existed since the 1990s. It is anchored as a function in the mobile communications standards for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G and is therefore theoretically available worldwide.
Similar to an SMS, a text message can be sent using this function – however, it is not an SMS, but a separate service. Unlike an SMS, a CB message can be displayed directly on the mobile phone display without the user having to do anything and can even be accompanied by a warning tone.
Technically, the CB service differs in a few other important points: unlike SMS, messages are not sent to a specific cell phone number, but to all devices in a cell. This means that no one has to register to receive them, and sending them is anonymous, which means they pose no problems for data protection officers.
The warnings sent also function like a radio signal: a message reaches all devices in the respective radio cell – this means that the system can be used stably and safely even in overloaded networks. At the same time, if necessary, a warning can be sent within seconds to the entire mobile phone network with millions of registered smartphones – or just to a handful of radio cells in affected areas.
CB has long been used as a warning system in many countries around the world. In the USA, for example, CB is used for the nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA). There, citizens have been warned more than 61,000 times – sometimes very locally – about tornadoes, hurricanes and other critical situations, or have been alerted to missing children. Japan uses the technology for its earthquake early warning system, and Canada, New Zealand and numerous other countries use CB to distribute warning messages.
The technology has also been used in some parts of the EU for years. With “NL-Alert”, the Netherlands has been warning its citizens about dangerous situations and emergencies via CB for almost nine years. In a test alarm last year, over 90 percent of citizens were reached, the government reported. Several other EU countries, including Greece and Italy, have already introduced the system or are in the process of doing so.
In Germany, however, this technology was not wanted for a long time. Cell broadcasting must be supported by the mobile phone providers. Armin Schuster, head of the BBK, explained in an interview with Deutschlandfunk in 2021 that there was no mobile phone provider in Germany that offered the service. The technology was extremely expensive, and 30 to 40 million euros had to be invested just to get started.
However, the mobile phone providers did not want to make these investments until there was an official order to do so. These steps have now been taken, and Cell Broadcast is available as a warning option from all providers.