UK government emergency alert

[HCarterSmith]

I didn't get any alert today. I've got an S10 with OS 12 for Android. I've got the Emergency Alert Notification switched on in settings so i don't know why I and the rest of my family who also use Smarty, didn't get anything. I was disappointed I didn't recieve a message but also worried for if there is an actual Emergency, I won't know unless other people from other networks inform me.

[Donna081417]

For some strange reason l got it twice within 3 days of each other 🤷🏼‍♀️ 

[matrix11001]

I got the alert on my watch but not my phone for some reason. 

[LianneG_1808124]

Hi everyone is getting theses emergency service alerts if u aint got them switched on then u wont get the alerts 

[MSF]

Hello @LianneG_1808124 Turns out that there was a problem with 3 Network generally as I understand. The alert was not repeated as intended.

Hope they manage to sort it out before they need to use it for real 😳

[WalterV_1368935]

With iphone8 also no emergency alarm. They should repeat the test to see if the changes have worked. 

[JoRo]

I didn't receive the alert. I'm not sure whether this was due to it not being transmitted over the Three network or because I was using wifi calling at the time. 

[George · Accepted solution]

Hi all,

Following the emergency alerts test on Sunday, we’ve been working with the government and have identified a technical issue that meant some of our customers didn’t receive the alert. This morning (24th of April) our engineers deployed a fix meaning there will be no issue with future alerts.

[JamesSmi_405477]

How can you be sure it's fixed if there's no future tests? And what network engineer in the offshore NOC forgot to deploy the config correctly in the first place?

[JoRo]

Presumably if wi-fi calling is being used the alert will not be received in any event?

[AndrewFo_451523]

Hi,

Can you please confirm there will be a test of the fix so we as customers can all know the fix works and our phones are going to receive the alerts?

Many thanks,

[AndrewFo_451523]

Hi, will there be a test so we can all see this fix works?

Many thanks, 

[BevPook_1893170]

It seems a large amount of Smarty and 3 users did not recieve. My mobile is Samsung A12 and I did not recieve it either. Can Smarty explain the reason please.

[Huaidong]

Almost everybody received the national alert as a test yesterday 23rd April 2023 but not me. Is that because of the network problem from Smarty?

[JuneKen_1069229]

Didn't get the emergency alert . Did any other smarty customers get the emergency alert? 

[Shackg]

Will I be able to use all of my phone’s features and services if I do not acknowledge the scheduled emergency alert from the government on 23rd April? Apparently, people receiving the notification MUST accept the download before using their phone’s other features (like calls, texts Etc.). 

Personally, I’m not comfortable with the government loading software on my phone and choosing whether I’m able to make calls or not based on my compliance to receive notifications about high winds or flooding.

[LynnOrt_1234627]

I did NOT receive a government alert on my Samsung S21 plus today even though my phone has been updated. I am on Smarty network. 

[JamesSmi_405477]

Everyone else in the pub did. Friends in other locations in London didn't get the message either.... Consistent theme, they were either on Three or Smarty.

Why is this network so bad?

[LouisK]

Hi @JamesSmi_405477 

We are aware that a number of customers have not received the test alert. We are working closely with the government to understand why and ensure it doesn't happen when the system is in use.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. 

Best wishes,

Louis

SMARTY

[JamesSmi_405477]

" have not received the best alert"

What does that even mean? One either recieves the alert or doesn't.

Disappointing that Three can't even get it's network in order to forward an emergency alert that haf been planned months in advance. Pathetic actually. Not sure that people in the Reading Head Office are actually doing.

[WelshPaul]

Change network then!

If you took the time to do some research instead of jumping up and down on the spot ranting, you’d have found out that it wasn’t just some of Three/SMARTY customers that failed to get the alert but some users of all the UK networks.

[PeterSm_1580201]

Hi, 

I didn't get the emergency alert. I have a pixel 6a pro with emergency alerts enabled.

Did anyone else not get it? My phone was on. My wife got an alert but she's on EE. 

Thanks

[LE55ONS]

I was on 5G with a Galaxy S10 and my son has the new pixel. No alerts on both phones.

[KatieR98]

Hi myself and three children all with iPhones and on smarty none of us received the emergency alert today.

[JuliaBau_791042]

No I’m with Smarty using an iphone6 & I didn’t get the alert either.

[AnthonyG_136094]

My family are all on Smarty. No one received the alert (2 Android and 2 iPhones).

[JohnGre_1837641]

Nope i never got it (iPhone 8), my partners GiffGaff phone got it (iPhone 😎 and my work phone got it (Samsung A20). I only just switched to SMARTY, maybe I should switch back.

[JezmundoSmash]

Nope. Neither did anyone I know who is on Smarty or 3.

[JezmundoSmash]

No, I didn't either.  20 ir so friends on Smarty and 3 failed to do so as well.

[dazfinlay]

I have a pixel 6 I had the phone on and emergency alerts enabled but did not get the message in Leeds

[LouisK]

We are aware that a number of customers have not received the test alert. We are working closely with the government to understand why and ensure it doesn't happen when the system is in use.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. 

UPD: We’ve investigated and identified why the issue occurred, and we’re now working hard to rectify this to ensure that it is fixed for the future.

Best wishes,

Louis

SMARTY

[JamesSmi_405477]

Are you able to elaborate on the root cause? 

How do we know it's fixed if there's no future emergency test? 

[GreatMarko]

Reading media reports, it appears that this issue affected EVER user with a device connected to a network with utilises the Three network (including Smarty).

So when you say that this affected "a number of customers", can you confirm that this was everyone... or is not, can you given an indication of the percentage of customers this did affect?

[JamesSmi_405477]

I was in a pub with a bunch of mates at the time. Only people that didn't get it were those on Three/Smarty.

It was a good way of identifying those in the pub that are too tight to probably offer you a round. They're willing to be on the $hit network that is Three, to save a few bucks. At the expense of not getting safety alerts...

[JoRo]

I didn't receive an alert on my iPhone SE.  At the time I was connected using "wifi calling".  As I was not connected via a 4G/5G signal, would this have made any difference?

[PeterWe_1263203]

My wife and I didn't get the warning either. Both on smarty

[Donca_WW]

I have two roommates and I didn’t hear the alarm in the house at all. 

[will6789]

According to this twitter thread, the problem is that the Three network failed to repeat the alert over the full 20min period (like the other networks) and just sent it once meaning that the vast majority of devices didn't catch it.

[JamesSmi_405477]

Sounds about right.. They didn't give the right instructions to the core network tech people in Mumbai.

[Xyrox]

No alert here. There's been widespread comments regarding the same. You had one job, government 😂