What is Cell Broadcast – emergency alerts on your phone?

Cell Broadcast explained in sipgate – how to receive emergency alerts on your mobile phone.

How does Cell Broadcast work and who is behind it?

Cell Broadcast is used for emergency alerts to all mobile phones in a specific risk area. You receive a notification with an alarm tone via the mobile network, regardless of the operating system or the device brand.

Unlike SMS or push notifications, Cell Broadcast messages are not limited to a phone number or app. The transmission of warnings works similarly to broadcast signals, so the notification is sent directly to all mobile phones in the affected radio cell.

For the content of the messages are the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), the respective interior ministries or disaster control authorities responsible. They create and send the Cell Broadcast messages in order to communicate information about emergency warnings such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or other dangerous situations to the affected population.

What role does sipgate play in Cell Broadcast?

The main goal of Cell Broadcast is to establish a new warning channel with high reachability. sipgate uses the existing network infrastructures and acts as an intermediary for transmitting the warnings.

How can I receive the warning messages on my mobile phone?

In most cases, most mobile phones and smartphones in Germany can receive warnings via Cell Broadcast without any additional settings. The general requirements for this are:

• The operating system on your mobile phone is up to date, for example iOS versions from 15.6.1 (with the exception of iOS 16.0.x) as well as from 16.1, and Android version 11 or later.

• The mobile phone is switched on and not in airplane mode.

• Your SIM card is activated.

Here you will find a list of compatible devices, which can receive Cell Broadcasts.

What information is transmitted in warning messages?

The content of the notification can vary, but in general emergency warnings can be defined by the following characteristics:

• These are text messages of up to 500 characters that are displayed on the mobile phone screen with a loud signal tone.

• The messages contain the name of the authority that triggered the warning. Real warning messages also contain a link to an official warning portal, where detailed information about the danger is provided.

• Since this is not an SMS, no sender number is displayed and it is not possible to reply to the notification. You will also not be asked to open a website or install an app.

• A warning message contains information about the existing danger as well as clear instructions on what to do.

How can I turn the Cell Broadcast function on and off?

In most cases, the Cell Broadcast function is already activated on your mobile phone. There are different warning levels for messages, and you cannot turn off the notification for the highest level.

In other cases, you can adjust the settings on your mobile phone individually. It is important that the current operating system is installed on your mobile phone. Then you can follow this path: settings ➔ Notifications ➔ Emergency alerts or Cell Broadcast alerts or Alerts. There you can decide whether you want to receive warning and test messages. You can find a detailed explanation for iOS and Android devices here.

On other devices and older iOS or Android versions, users may need to activate the function. Please note device-specific settings or instructions from the manufacturer.

Are my personal data transmitted or processed for the emergency alert?

The sending of emergency notifications is anonymous and similar to broadcast transmission. This means that no personal information such as private mobile phone numbers and location data can be collected or processed.