Emergency phone alert debacle deepens as it emerges one in five users did not get the Government warning
One in five mobile phones did not receive the Government’s emergency alert on Sunday.
New Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, the minister in charge of the warnings, said further tests will take place after admitting there were ‘issues’ during the bungled trial.
He said the Cabinet Office would ‘conduct further operational testing’ at some point in the future but confirmed that despite the difficulties the system was now fully operational.
It means smartphone users can receive an alert at any time, unless they switch off emergency notifications.
Mr Dowden confirmed the Government was investigating the issues, which included thousands of smartphone users receiving the siren outside the specified test time of 3pm on Sunday, and it was looking into why Three customers had failed to receive the alert.
New Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden (pictured), the minister in charge of the warnings, said further tests will take place after admitting there were ‘issues’ during the bungled trial
He said: ‘The Cabinet Office is working closely with Three to implement an appropriate fix to ensure that this does not happen for them with future emergency alerts.’
He added there were ‘no current plans for a further UK-wide, or public, test of the system’, but said it was ‘likely’ there would be further testing in the coming years ‘to help keep the British people safe’.
The mobile phone alert fiasco deepened on Monday, April 24, with users being woken at 2am by the alarm despite the fact it was supposed to arrive the day before.
The Government’s emergency alert system was supposed to send a test alarm to millions of smartphones across the UK at 3pm on Sunday.
But thousands received their alerts early, late, or not at all, with officials blaming the mobile phone network Three for the mix-up.
Other users were woken or disturbed by their phones beeping between midnight and 8am on Monday – with sources suggesting it was caused by phone masts sending the signal hours after the end of the test.
