The emergency alert system tested by the Government with messages sent to every phone in the country is costing £25.3million, according to newly released figures. The system, which saw a test message sent earlier this year, will be used to warn people about major emergencies such as flooding or fires.
Full Fact, a charity of fact checkers and campaigners, has just published a fact check on the cost of the Emergency Alerts system. The Cabinet Office said it expects to spend up to £25.3 million on the system over three years.
In answer to a written question, the Conservative peer and Cabinet Office minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe said on 25 May: “The total cost to date of developing the technical architecture and systems which underpin the emergency alert programme, in addition to the first three years of operational delivery, will be a maximum of £25.3 million."
The costs include a £1.6million a year contract with Fujitsu and £18.6million contract with mobile phone network operators.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe added: “The remaining costs were spent on security testing and legal fees. The specific figures are commercially sensitive and can therefore not be released to the public.”
Problems with the emergency alert system tested on mobile phones across the UK are being fixed to ensure “fuller coverage”, Oliver Dowden has said.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the test earlier this year was a “one-off”, and there would be no re-run after customers of the Three mobile phone network did not receive the alert on April 23.
Speaking at a session of questions to Cabinet Office ministers, Mr Dowden told the Commons: “[The] UK-wide emergency alert was the largest simultaneous public message in British history.
“We reached 93% of eligible phones in the country within three minutes of the test alert being sent from Cobra.
“The system is now fully operable in the event of a real emergency and is a vital tool in our toolkit to keep people safe.”
Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans (Bosworth) asked: “What is going to happen with the 7% that weren’t picked up in his answer? Will there be a follow-up further test?
“If so, he said it is fully functional, can I ask what kind of things will it be used for in the future?
“Will it be regional, national, or local emergencies?”
Mr Dowden replied: “The whole point of having a test is to expose where there are challenges.
“Subsequent to the test, I met with the chief executive of Three where the principal challenges lay, and I am confident that they are taking actions, and pretty much have taken the actions to ensure that we will get that fuller coverage which is required.”
He added: “It was a one-off test, I don’t see for the foreseeable future any need for a further such test.
“We will target it as locally as possible, and we can do so even at the level of a mast.
“It will be used in circumstances where people’s lives are at risk. It is a very very high bar for usage.”
Conservative MP Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) later pressed the minister, saying: “Are we now going to have another test to show that we’re getting at least 99% through?”
Mr Dowden said: “I don’t believe that we do need to have another test for the simple reason that I’m confident following my meeting with the chief executive (of Three) that they have taken the necessary steps to resolve the issues.”
Conservative Selaine Saxby (North Devon) said: “I wonder what reassurance can be given to remote rural constituents of mine who never received their alert and who are not with Three?
“I declare an interest, I’m a Vodafone customer, and my alert went off the next morning coming up the M5.”
Mr Dowden said: “I think all these things point to the reason why we needed to have the test in the first place, to iron out some of these issues.
“It is the case in more rural areas there are problems with signal and particularly problems with signal penetrating older houses.
“The answer to that really is to extend further the rollout of mobile technology and the Government has very good plans for that.”
