The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that it is aiming to finish testing a natural disaster public warning system before April, adding that mobile phone users would not be able to receive warnings from the service unless their mobile phones are equipped to support the new system.
Built by the nation’s five 4G telecom service operators, the system is able to send out warnings to people when the nation is hit by earthquakes or other life-threatening natural disasters.
To ensure that the system operates smoothly, the commission said that it would be conducting tests in certain locations this week and next week, including Shiding District (石碇) in New Taipei City, Checheng Township (車城) in Pingtung County and Lugu Township (鹿谷) in Nantou County.
The commission also said that mobile phones need to receive certification before March 1 to be able to support the system.
For mobile phones sold before March 1, the commission said that it hopes mobile phone manufacturers could voluntarily offer an application or software to their users so that their mobile phones could be upgraded or activated to support the system.
The voluntary move could begin on July 1, the commission said, adding that manufacturers would have time to develop the necessary software.
The commission said that people who want to receive the warnings sent by the system must have SIM cards and mobile phones supporting 3G or 4G telecom services.
The system is designed to alert mobile phone users to the occurrence of a natural disaster through texts, sounds and vibrations.
People using 2G telecom services would only receive text messages, the commission said.
It said that 3G and 4G service users would not hear the alarms of the incoming message if they are talking on the phone.
According to the commission, the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction has set different codes for different disaster-related messages, with the most urgent ones being of national-level emergencies, such as major earthquakes and any other life-threatening disasters.
Users would not be able to turn off notifications for messages of national-level emergencies, the commission said.
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