EMERGENCY alert tests could take place every two years despite glitches, a Cobra director has revealed.
Top Whitehall official Roger Hargreaves told MPs more alerts will follow the “massively successful” test on April 23.
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He said: “It is international standard practice to do regular test messages.
“I think there is a case for doing it every two years, but we haven’t got a ministerial decision on that.
“Every two years is what we would probably advise ministers but we’re yet to get a view on that.”
Hargreaves also revealed that one in ten Brits did not receive the nationwide alert in April – blaming mobile network Three.
He said: “We would have hoped to get higher than that. The big drop off in available phones was because one of the networks ,Three.
“The message didn’t go through to all users, it went to about 10% of their users in England rather than all of them.
“That was the main driving factor in the number falling below the 95% plus that we had hoped for.”
“Even with what happened with Three it was still massively successful from our perspective.
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“It reached so many more people than any other comparable means of communication that we previously had access to.”
About 85 million phones on 4G and 5G were due to hear a ten second alarm at 3pm on April 23.
The emergency test was the same volume as a ringtone as it vibrated handhelds and came with a ‘Severe Alert’ message.
It read: “This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.
“In a real emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe.
“Visit gov.uk/alerts for more information. This is a test. You do not need to take any action.”
But the jolting alarm shocked some Brits and even set off dogs who were heard barking up and down the country.
Those who did get the alarm took to Twitter seconds to post how terrifying it was seconds later.
One person said: “The emergency alert system just scared the f*** out of me.”
A second added “that alert was a bit loud” while another joked “it was so dalek like”.
Others reported receiving the alert at different times, while some said theirs was narrated.
One person wrote on Twitter: “Confusingly my wife’s alert went off a min before mine – same phone, same network, in the same room.”
The Government said the system will make it easier for the public to be notified of major incidents like terror attacks and severe weather.
This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
