FR-Alert will be deployed throughout the national territory. This system must make it possible to effectively send alerts to individuals located in a danger zone. Users ofiPhone need to install an update.
The government is rolling out FR-Alert to more users. Tested since April, the population alert system should be fully operational by the end of June, in mainland France and overseas.
A European bond
France will have taken all its time to set up the system, mandatory since the adoption of a European directive dating from 2018. The deadline set by the European Union was June 21, 2022, the ministry will therefore have waited for the last time to launch FR-Alert.
Thanks to this system, the government will be able to send notifications to the mobile phones of people present in an area facing danger. The populations are therefore quickly informed that an incident has taken place or that there is a danger near them.
Countries like the United States and Japan, where natural disasters are frequent, have had such a system for a long time. This can also be activated in the event of an attack, for example.
Alerts broadcast via 4G, SMS not yet supported
When an alert must be launched, the competent authority writes the information message on the State portal. This is then transmitted to the mobile telephone operators, who will broadcast it to the antennas of the network covering the danger zone. The owners of a mobile then receive the message via a notification accompanied by a specific sound signal, even when the device is in silent mode.
Unlike the SAIP failure, this time there is no application to install on your smartphone. Owners of an Android terminal have absolutely no manipulation to perform to receive alerts. If you have an iPhone, you may have received a message for a carrier settings update. It is necessary to install it to benefit from FR-Alert.
Cell broadcast works on 4G and 5G networks and is currently the only channel available. Support for location-based SMS is planned later for users who are not equipped with a 4G or 5G compatible smartphone.
Source : BFM TV
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