A review will be carried out to find out why some mobile phones did not receive the test of a new national emergency alert system on Sunday.
Phones across the country rang out with a siren at 3pm as part of a government trial of the new national alert system, which will be used to contact residents in the case of a life-threatening emergency. It will be used in future to warn people about dangerous situations, such as floods or during terror attacks.
The test alert was set to be sent out nationwide on all mobile phones that are compatible with 4G and 5G. Phones let out a siren sound followed by the message.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
But although the 'vast majority of compatible phones' received the alert, according to The Cabinet Office, the 10-second alarm and message notification was not delivered to some mobile phones. Customers on the Three mobile phone network were among those to report not receiving the communication test.
The network provider said it would be working with the government to understand what had happened. A small number of people have also taken to social media to flag that they have not been able to make or receive calls since the 3pm alarm went off on their device.
The Cabinet Office stated that engineers had not spotted a trend of phone functions failing to work afterwards, but said officials were in the early stages of analysing the results of the trial run. A UK Government spokesman said: “We have effectively completed the test of the UK-wide Emergency Alerts system, the biggest public communications exercise of its kind ever done.
“We are working with mobile network operators to review the outcome and any lessons learned.”
In a statement, a spokesman for Three said: “We are aware that a number of customers have not received the test alert. We are working closely with the Government to understand why and ensure it doesn’t happen when the system is in use.”
On social media following the test, some users reported receiving the message a minute or so early, or even receiving repeat alerts. Others said their phone received the notification after they switched it back on, having been off at 3pm.
Phones that were powered down or switched to airplane mode were not expected to sound. Speaking before the test, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden conceded the drill could be 'annoying', but that it had the potential to save people’s lives once rolled out.
He told Sky News that the trial run was a 'bit like when the fire alarm goes off at work'. “It’s a bit irritating at the time but in the future people could be grateful for it because in a real emergency, this could be the sound that saves your life,” he told Sky News.
The entertainment and sport sectors had been planning how to guard against disruption to large events when the test went off. The London Marathon, Premier League football matches and matinee theatre performances were all taking place when the 3pm alert sounded.
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- The 'worst' street where people ask how many more will die
- Prisoners 'running the wings', 'inmates off their t*ts', staff who have 'lost control' - the jail that's had £1bn of public money
- Man raped woman in the woods - then attacked brave dog walker who intervened
- People forced to walk down the Big One as it stops mid-ride AGAIN for second time in weeks
- Manchester's real-life Peaky Blinders only feared one thing
