At eleven o’clock all alarm bells should ring in Germany. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) then wanted to trigger a test alarm throughout Germany. But for some mobile phone users, the devices remained silent for half an hour after the warning time. The all-clear doesn’t seem to get through either.

As the BBK announced before the campaign, “a test warning should be sent at 11 a.m. via the federal modular warning system (MoWaS)”. But not all cell phone users heard a warning tone and a notification was displayed. The warning apps NINA and Katwarn also sometimes did not show users any messages or only displayed them more than 20 minutes after the deadline. !function(){var t=window.addEventListener?”addEventListener”:”attachEvent”;(0,window[t])(“attachEvent”==t?”onmessage”:”message”,function(t){if (“string”==typeof t.data

According to initial information, many Telekom customers in particular should not have received the warnings. A possible explanation is that the cell broadcast system will not be fully functional until February 2023, and another warning day is already planned for September. Deactivated test warnings in the phone’s system settings could also be a reason for the cell phones to remain silent. Many older models such as the iPhone 6 or devices with Android 10 cannot use cell broadcast either.

The BBK wanted to send a second all-clear at 11.45 a.m. – but this does not seem to get through either. According to initial reports, devices that have successfully received the first warning are also affected.

The Federal Office and Telekom have not yet responded to repeated inquiries from FOCUS online. There is currently no information as to why the warnings failed.

The message is to be distributed on various channels – on radio and television, via warning apps such as Nina or Katwarn and on city information boards. Sirens are also used. For the first time, a warning is also given about the cell broadcast process. An automatic notification goes to every mobile phone that is switched on at this time, has reception and is running the latest software.

Warnings are also given via loudspeaker cars, the information systems of Deutsche Bahn. It’s just a test. The all-clear should follow at 11:45 a.m.

More to come.