…By Jack Sylva for TDPel Media.
After a mixed response from the first round of government phone tests in the UK, it was unclear if a second test would take place.
On Sunday, April 23rd, most of the country received notifications, but not all went according to plan.
However, a message on the government website indicated that another round of alerts was expected on Tuesday, April 25th.
The message read, “There will be a service test of the UK Emergency Alerts system today,” although it has since been removed.
The announcement added that the alert would say, “This is a mobile network operator test of the UK Emergency Alerts service.
You do not need to take any action.
To find out more, visit gov.uk/alerts.”
The Cabinet Office has since clarified that no tests are scheduled for April 25th, and that most devices received the test alert on Sunday, though some on the network Three did not receive the message.
The UK government sent an alert to all mobile devices in the country on April 23rd as part of its trial of the Emergency Alerts system, a new public warning system that uses cell phone towers to send text-like messages to all devices in a particular area.
The test was designed to ensure that the service is in working order and that the public is familiar with it.
However, the test received mixed reactions, with some phone users receiving the notifications early, while others did not receive them at all.
Following the confusion, some users were concerned that another test was planned for April 25th.
The recent government message that appeared on the website, informing users that another test was scheduled for April 25th, has now been removed.
The government has clarified that there are no plans for another test on this date.
The Cabinet Office has also said that the “vast majority” of devices received the alert on Sunday, but that some users on the Three network did not.
The Emergency Alerts system is part of the government’s effort to improve public safety by providing instant information to mobile phone users during an emergency or major incident.
The government plans to launch the service later this year, after successful trials.