Work
01.June 2005 - 00:00
Development and funding of a mobile-phone-based general warning system
The natural disaster in Asia showed that a speedy flow of information is of great importance in saving human lives, specially when disasters hit populated areas. As a result of the Boxing Day tsunami in South-East Asia, nearly 250000 people died or went missing. Help was slow in being sent to the survivors precisely because of the slow flow of information.
However, for over 10 years there has been a programme available on mobile phones, known as Cell Broadcast, capable of sending warning messages, though it is hardly ever used; this programme would enable operators to transmit local messages in emergencies.
In the event of major disasters, Cell Broadcast would work well as an information distribution system, since it is possible for the operator in an emergency to send a special message which pops up immediately, irrespective of what the mobile phone is currently doing, provided that it is switched on and that the Cell Broadcast application reception is open.
However, the Cell Broadcast mobile phone programme will not resolve this problem on its own. Cooperation is needed between the manufacturers and operators of mobile phones, together with financial resources to launch and implement such cooperation. Since it is not realistic to assume that the operators and mobile phone manufacturers alone will fund the R & D into this activity, which is not of itself productive for them, does the Commission consider that the introduction and exploitation of the Cell Broadcast programme is a matter whose funding might be secured at EU level?
Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission
The Commission agrees that a speedy flow of information is of great importance in saving human lives, especially when disasters hit populated areas, as was the case during the tsunami disaster in December 2004.
Cell broadcast (CB) service functionality, an existing and standardised feature that allows short text messages to be flashed on the screens of all mobile phones within the cell or cells that have been commanded so to do, could add significantly to providing early warning signals in cases of emergency. The granularity of GSM networks allows alert messages to be broadcast to particular geographic areas, in the preferred language of the user.
Successful implementation of cell broadcast hinges around a proper implementation of the functionality in the mobile phone itself. There is need for a minimum standard to ensure that mobile handset behaviour is as uniform and simple to use as possible. Alert messages should get top priority, be recognised by the user as special messages of high importance directly related to public safety, override SMS messages or other mechanisms in the GSM standard, and stay on the display for a while regardless of the user setting. Ideally the CB function for emergency services should be activated ‘over-the-air’ in the case of an incident.
The Commission recognises the potential of cell broadcast in early warning, and as indicated in its recent communication ‘Improving EU disaster and crisis response’(1), it is considering issuing a mandate to the European Standardisation Organisations to prepare and adopt harmonised standards covering the harmonised implementation and use of cell broadcast by public authorities for public safety purposes. It is not anticipated that this would involve any significant Research and Development (R & D) efforts. EU funding for the introduction and exploitation of cell broadcast is not being considered.
(1) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Reinforcing EU disaster and crisis response in third countries — COM(2005)153 final.
The natural disaster in Asia showed that a speedy flow of information is of great importance in saving human lives, specially when disasters hit populated areas. As a result of the Boxing Day tsunami in South-East Asia, nearly 250000 people died or went missing. Help was slow in being sent to the survivors precisely because of the slow flow of information.
However, for over 10 years there has been a programme available on mobile phones, known as Cell Broadcast, capable of sending warning messages, though it is hardly ever used; this programme would enable operators to transmit local messages in emergencies.
In the event of major disasters, Cell Broadcast would work well as an information distribution system, since it is possible for the operator in an emergency to send a special message which pops up immediately, irrespective of what the mobile phone is currently doing, provided that it is switched on and that the Cell Broadcast application reception is open.
However, the Cell Broadcast mobile phone programme will not resolve this problem on its own. Cooperation is needed between the manufacturers and operators of mobile phones, together with financial resources to launch and implement such cooperation. Since it is not realistic to assume that the operators and mobile phone manufacturers alone will fund the R & D into this activity, which is not of itself productive for them, does the Commission consider that the introduction and exploitation of the Cell Broadcast programme is a matter whose funding might be secured at EU level?
Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission
The Commission agrees that a speedy flow of information is of great importance in saving human lives, especially when disasters hit populated areas, as was the case during the tsunami disaster in December 2004.
Cell broadcast (CB) service functionality, an existing and standardised feature that allows short text messages to be flashed on the screens of all mobile phones within the cell or cells that have been commanded so to do, could add significantly to providing early warning signals in cases of emergency. The granularity of GSM networks allows alert messages to be broadcast to particular geographic areas, in the preferred language of the user.
Successful implementation of cell broadcast hinges around a proper implementation of the functionality in the mobile phone itself. There is need for a minimum standard to ensure that mobile handset behaviour is as uniform and simple to use as possible. Alert messages should get top priority, be recognised by the user as special messages of high importance directly related to public safety, override SMS messages or other mechanisms in the GSM standard, and stay on the display for a while regardless of the user setting. Ideally the CB function for emergency services should be activated ‘over-the-air’ in the case of an incident.
The Commission recognises the potential of cell broadcast in early warning, and as indicated in its recent communication ‘Improving EU disaster and crisis response’(1), it is considering issuing a mandate to the European Standardisation Organisations to prepare and adopt harmonised standards covering the harmonised implementation and use of cell broadcast by public authorities for public safety purposes. It is not anticipated that this would involve any significant Research and Development (R & D) efforts. EU funding for the introduction and exploitation of cell broadcast is not being considered.
(1) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Reinforcing EU disaster and crisis response in third countries — COM(2005)153 final.