UK emergency alert test: Three looking into why users failed to get text

Network’s users report en masse that SMS, accompanied by piercing 10-second tone, never arrived

The mobile network Three said it was investigating why many of its users failed to receive an emergency alert from the government, the first nationwide test for the UK’s new national warning system.

The alarm was scheduled to sound at 3pm on all mobile devices connected to the UK’s 4G and 5G networks, but while the piercing, 10-second tone did arrive for millions of people, and up to a minute early for some, Three users reported en masse that they did not receive it.

“We are aware that a number of customers have not received the test alert,” a Three spokesperson said. “We are working closely with the government to understand why and ensure it doesn’t happen when the system is in use.”

A government spokesperson said: “We have effectively completed the test of the UK-wide emergency alerts system, the biggest public communications exercise of its kind ever done. We are working with mobile network operators to review the outcome and any lessons learned.”

A very small proportion of users on some mobile networks had not received the message, a government source said, and that failure will form part of the review.

The overwhelming majority of users who failed to receive the alert appeared to be with the Three network, but some on the O2 and Vodafone networks also reported difficulty. Users whose phones have not received a software update in more than two years, and those who were not within reach of a 4G or 5G network were not expected to successfully receive it.

Some users chose to opt out of the alert in advance. All phones allow users to opt out of the second and third highest tier of the alerts, called “extreme” and “severe” alerts, but few provide the option to opt out of the highest tier, officially called “presidential” but renamed “government” in the UK. The test was sent as a “severe” warning.

Emma, 30, a teaching assistant, was aware and ready for the alert, which never came. “My phone was ready but it didn’t come through but other people’s went off,” she said, while shopping in the Westfield Stratford City mall in east London.

The alert has also sparked conspiracy theories. Another Westfield shopper, 22, who declined to give her name, said she had received them on WhatsApp.

“They’re saying put your phone away or turn your phone off because something is gonna happen or avoid public spaces so you’re not affected by it,” she said. “It might be useful for the older population maybe but on social media we get everything straight away.”

One viral meme advised users to turn off the alerts, and falsely claimed that they should do so in order to avoid “the small print” that says “by turning them on you are in turn allowing access to your mobile device”. No such small print exists.

The government confirmed on Sunday evening that the Welsh language national emergency alert test contained a spelling error.

For the translation of the English phrase “others safe”, the message reportedly read “eraill yn Vogel” when it should have said “eraill yn ddiogel”.

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A government spokesperson said: “A technical error caused one word in the Welsh language version of the emergency test alert to be misspelt.”

The national alert system has been more than a decade in the making. Initial tests began in 2013 with regional alerts, and a review published in 2014 strongly recommended moving forward with the programme. “Responders remain very keen to see the implementation of a national mobile alert system,” it concluded.

“The system would be an effective way of getting people to take specific protective action during an emergency. Whilst a significant challenge, there was consensus that it was possible to issue alerts to the public within 15 minutes of a decision being made.”

Instead, the plan faltered, with no department willing to take on the cost of rolling out the system, estimated at the time at about £1m. The Covid pandemic prompted the government to revive the plans after it was forced to work with the mobile networks to send a text message to all 85m phones in the country announcing lockdown.

The networks were overwhelmed and it took almost two days for all the messages to be delivered.