Alerts will appear on the mobile phones of people in Paris between February and April 2024. These notifications are part of a trial campaign for the FR-Alert warning mechanism, which is used to warn the population in the event of danger. These messages are exercises.
Paris will host the Summer Olympics in just over 163 days. As such, the capital is fully immersed in its preparations to host the competition in the best possible security conditions. It is in this context that the city is organizing a series of FR-Alert trials on February 15, 2024 and then throughout the spring.
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The SMS alert in Paris is just an exercise
The launch of this campaign was announced Wednesday February 14 by the official Paris sur X account (formerly Twitter). The test planned for the 15th will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. and will concern all people who are at that time in the 13th arrondissement (or surrounding areas), and who have a cell phone.
FR-Alert is a warning system to warn the population if a danger is in progress – a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, an industrial accident or even a health emergency. The device consists of sending a notification to all cell phones in a given area, all associated with a sound signal.
In detail, FR-Alert is based on cell broadcast technology which makes it possible to reach all mobile phones that are within communication range. This approach makes it possible to reach anyone in practice, regardless of the operator, phone model or network type (4G, 5G, etc.).
Elsewhere in France, several experiments with this mechanism have already taken place. Each time, the message is written in such a way as to leave no doubt about the artificial nature of the threat. For Paris, it will be the same: it is nothing more than an exercise. The population has nothing to do except continue their activities.
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Two other exercises are planned :
- Friday March 22, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., in the 15th arrondissement;
- on Tuesday April 23, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., in the 17th arrondissement.
