The Ministry of the Interior has officially launched its FR-Alert population alert system. The device began to be deployed in the territory last July. It was even technically functional as of June 21. This followed a European Union obligation from November 2018 that required the deployment of an alert system in each member country.
This tool, capable of displaying an alert message in a few seconds on the screen of all smartphones in the same area, can now be used by all prefects. Main benefit: No action, such as downloading an app, is required to enjoy it. Notifications are automatically enabled on t.
A way to prevent any type of emergency or disaster
Therefore, the FR-Alert system will be able to inform the populations of the location of the danger, but above all of its nature. Among the different categories of events likely to activate the alert vector, we find meteorological disasters (storms, fires, floods, etc.), those related to nuclear energy or those related to internal security (attack) .
The broadcasting principle is simple: an alert message is sent using different waves to those used by the mobile network, to avoid any saturation. This transmission is activated in all the repeater antennas in an area defined by the authorities to warn a specific population. A strident sound accompanies the message, in order to make the alert more effective.
Available for many years in other countries such as the United States, Sri Lanka, Peru and New Zealand, this tool is based on a technology called cell broadcasting.
The system will be accessible to all phones
In practice, therefore, the message is not sent manually to each recipient, as an SMS would be, but to all the mobiles near the selected antennas. Therefore, the authorities do not collect user geolocation data.
The FR-Alert device works with all mobiles compatible with 4G or 5G, whether they are smartphones or basic phones. In this second case, the alert appears in the form of an SMS, although the technology used is different, as explained above.
For phones equipped with technologies prior to 4G and 5G, the use of geolocated SMS will be required. In its press release, the Ministry of the Interior also recalls that this tool will be available throughout the national territory, in metropolitan France and abroad.
Source: BFM TV
