When all cell phones suddenly ring: Germany is rehearsing the emergency

If soon all mobile phones in Germany report at the same time, then there is no need to panic. Instead, it’s a test of the cell broadcast system, scheduled for a nationwide warning day. You don’t even need a smartphone to reach larger parts of the population.

Cell Broadcast: Large test planned in Germany

After last year’s flood disaster, attention quickly turned to a comprehensive warning system that could reach the entire population if possible. Now it is certain that Cell broadcast system on a nationwide warning day to be tested across the board for the first time. There is no exact date yet, but our cell phones will probably all ring at the same time on one day in September 2022.

Unlike solutions like Nina and Katwarn, this will no special app required on the smartphone. Instead, the cell broadcast system uses a type of SMS that appears on all devices within certain radio cells. This is to ensure that owners of older cell phones (feature phones) are also reached.

The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) explains that the modular warning system should be available for testing by June 30th. The test operation of the network operators should then be completed “as soon as possible”, it is said. According to the current state of knowledge, normal operation is only possible by February 2023 at the latest to reckon with.

By the time Cell Broadcast is up, the Nina warning app should be installed:

Delay in warning system under criticism

Politicians from various parties have criticized the fact that the construction of the cell broadcast system is taking a long time. According to FDP domestic politician Sandra Bubendorfer-Licht, the system became simple “missed, squandered, delayed”. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) also speaks of an “annoying time delay” in this context (source: mirror).