2024-03-15 10:37:18
Cell Broadcast, an effective warning system for cell phones, has been around since the 1990s and has hardly been used in Germany to date. 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 warning was 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 for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) relies on, only reach a portion of the population – because only those who have installed the apps and set them up correctly can be warned. Since the 1990s, there has been a system that allows authorities to send warnings to any cell phone: Cell Broadcast.
Cell broadcast is effective system
Until 2021, hardly anyone in this country had this on their radar, and the BBK didn’t seem particularly willing to introduce the system in addition to its app strategy. After the information debacle surrounding the flood disaster, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who was still in office at the time, made the decision to introduce the system.
It was tested across the board for the first time on Warning Day 2022 – with success. According to a study by the BKK, over 54 percent of respondents received a warning about this system. This makes cell broadcast the most effective evaluation system.
But what cell broadcast actually is, how it works – and why people in Germany didn’t want to know about it for so long: answers to the most important questions.
Was ist Cell Broadcast?
Cell Broadcast (CB) is a warning system for cell phones that has been around 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, this function can be used to send a text message – however, it is not an SMS, but rather a separate service. Unlike SMS, a CB message can be displayed directly on the cell 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 an SMS, the messages are not sent to a specific cell phone number, but to all devices in a radio cell. This means that no one has to register to receive it; sending is also anonymous and therefore unproblematic for data protection officers.
The warnings sent also work 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 cell phone network with millions of registered smartphones – or even just to a handful of radio cells in affected areas.
Where else is Cell Broadcast used?
CB has long been used as a warning system in many countries around the world. In the USA, CB is used for nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA). Citizens there have already been warned – sometimes very locally – about tornadoes, hurricanes and other critical situations more than 61,000 times, or attention has been drawn to missing children. Japan uses the technology for its earthquake early warning system, Canada, New Zealand and numerous other countries use CB to distribute warning messages.
The technology has also been used within the EU for years. With “NL-Alert”, the Netherlands has been warning its citizens via CB about dangerous situations and emergencies for almost nine years. During a test alarm last year, over 90 percent of citizens were reached, the government reported. Some other EU countries, including Greece and Italy, have already introduced the system or are in the process of doing so.
What was wrong with the introduction?
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 is extremely expensive; 30 to 40 million euros would have to be invested just to get started.
However, the mobile phone providers did not want to make these investments as long as there was no official order to do so. These steps have now been taken and cell broadcast is available to all providers as a warning option.