Everyone in the UK with 4G or 5G access on their mobile devices will receive a loud and disruptive alarm on Sunday afternoon.
Ears may be left ringing from the sound of over 80 million phones going off at the same time, but that’s the point of an emergency alert system.
The UK Government scheduled the alert system test to go off at 3 p.m. on September 7. The system uses cell broadcast technology to access millions of devices on 4G and 5G networks from local cell towers.
The alert will trigger a loud sound and vibrate. It will also include a text message that tells recipients this is a test, not an actual emergency.
Everbridge, a global software company that specializes in critical event management (CEM) technology, developed the platform for the system, that works in partnership with local UK service providers EE, O2, Three and Vodafone to broadcast the alert, according to Government Transformation Magazine.
Everbridge’s public warning system uses existing telecoms infrastructure with no opt-in required to reach members of the public within a geographic area to warn them of an emergency situation.
Everbridge has been awarded multiple UK government contracts over the past ten years to execute a range of public emergency messaging systems.
The software company also serves major US cities, investment banks and international governments.
The system is GDPR compliant and no PII (personally identifiable information) data, such as names or phone numbers, is stored or collected from devices during a cell broadcast, according to Everbridge’s website.
According to the company's website, Everbridge's cell broadcast system operates on a "Telco-grade, standards-based, open distributed architecture" and has "integration with all RAN vendors," including an "unrivalled library of BSC/RNC/MME/AMF interfaces."
The system was first tested in April 2023. The Cabinet Office said the test was “successful,” in spite of the alert not reaching 7% of compatible devices.
In May 2023, Cabinet Office minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe revealed the emergency alert programme would cost the government up to £25.3 million in a response to a parliamentary question. This estimate included developing the technical architecture, systems that underpin the alert programme and first three years of operational delivery.
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