We interrupt your car dance party to Ariana x Nicki to bring you this important test alert: #bcpoli #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/Vtk2mCSXGe
— Ashley Wadhwani (@ashwadhwani) May 9, 2018
B.C. completed its first round of testing for a new nationwide emergency alert system on Wednesday, but not everyone got the message.
The alert was scheduled to go off on cellphones with an LTE connection, radio and broadcast TV at 1:55 p.m. PST.
British Columbians took to social media with mixed reviews.
Some people with Android phones reported getting the text message a whole two minutes late. Others said they didn’t receive a text message at all. And not all broadcast TV platforms showed the alert.
A request for comment has not yet been returned from Emergency Preparedness BC.
Alert Ready, the company behind the alert system, has a list of reasons online why some may not receive the alert on their phone.
Not all cellphones are compatible with the system, the company says. Phone users can check their compatibility based off certain wireless carriers online.
The mobile device also must be connected to LTE, which involves turning cellular data on, even while connected to wireless internet.
TELUS tech support staff also suggested those who didn’t receive the alert may need to update their phone software.
Hey there! Sorry to hear you didn't get the alert. 1) Is your device on the list of compatible devices:https://t.co/upnJ2dRwu3 2) Do you have LTE enabled 3) Is your device's software up to date?
— TELUS Support (@TELUSsupport) May 9, 2018
And for those who received a “presidential alert,” that’s because the phone was purchased in the U.S., according to Alert Ready.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ordered wireless providers to implement the alert system to distribute warnings of imminent safety threats, such as tornadoes, floods, Amber Alerts or terrorist threats earlier this year.
Mobile users in Ontario and Quebec were supposed to receive alerts on their devices Monday as part of a test of the regulator-mandated warning system, which was supposed to be fully in place by April 6.
No alerts were registered on devices in Quebec, while only some mobile subscribers in Ontario received the signal.
@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.caLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
