The national alert day will take place this year on Thursday, December 8, 2022. At 11 a.m., sirens are triggered simultaneously throughout Germany and test messages are sent to smartphones via alert apps.
The cell broadcast is being tested for the first time in order to get important insights for the implementation until the scheduled real operation from February 2023. At the same time, people should get acquainted with the system with an initial test message. Cell broadcast is an alert sent over the cellular network.
In addition, around 100 sirens in the 13 municipalities of the Offenbach district will trigger the “population warning” acoustic signal on this day. A rising and falling howling tone indicates danger. Those affected should obtain further information about the danger through other channels, such as warning apps or local radio stations. The sirens give the go-ahead with a continuous one-minute tone. In order for the information – via alert apps (HessenWARN, KATWARN and NINA) and cell broadcast – to also reach the public, it is important that the latest versions of operating systems and apps are installed on the smartphone. All users should definitely do so by the notice day of December 8, 2022.
The alert day is the start of an intense operational test phase for the new alert channel cell broadcast. Full operation is not yet planned for this test phase and not all mobile phone users in Germany will be able to receive an alert message via cell broadcast. Cell broadcast is an additional channel that allows you to send alerts to a large number of people easily, quickly, accurately and with little data. It is therefore ideal for alerting in an emergency. The transmission of alert messages via Cell Broadcast is an anonymous method that exploits the availability of reception of the mobile device in a radio cell of the mobile network. In this way, mobile devices located in a potentially dangerous area can be broadcast with a warning message without the need for prior registration or disclosure of personal data.
Further information – also in several languages - as well as videos explaining the different alarm devices and the day of the alarm can be found at www.warning-der-population.de to retrieve.
(Text: PM District Offenbach)
