Swiss government to improve disaster alert system via mobile phones
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Swiss government to improve disaster alert system via mobile phones
The Federal Council wants to modernise the disaster warning system for the population with alerts sent via the mobile phone network and other digital channels. The traditional system of warning sirens will remain in place.
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The Federal Council has instructed the defence ministry to submit a consultation draft paper on this issue in the first half of next year.
The government wants to improve the disaster alert system for the population, particularly via new cell phone alerts and the introduction of cell broadcast technology. This allows the sending of short messages of around 500 characters to all cell phones within an antenna’s reception range.
In addition, the Alertswiss app, which is already used by 2.2 million people, and the associated website will be further developed, the authorities said.
The Federal Council believes, however, that sirens should continue to remain an important part of the national warning system. In particular, they should have a high level of reliability.
Until now, the cantons have been responsible for sirens. The Federal Council now wants the defence ministry to clarify how costs and responsibilities should be shared in future.
Adapted from German by DeepL/sb
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