Cell Broadcast services in the Sultanate of Oman

Cell Broadcast service is available in all governorates and regions of Sultanate of Oman.
Although this is a great service, the channels being implemented are different from those recommended internationally for use. A list of some of the important channels being used are:
001 - Emergency - Governmental emergency requests such as evacuating areas etc.
005 - Municipality - information and announcements
006 - Sports - Oman national teams news
007 - Tourist Info
009 - Prayer Time - Daily prayer’s time and Ramadan announcements
010 – News - Business and international news
015 - Governmental - Daily government and ministries news
050 - Location Info - the area name where customer is located

Sri Lanka’s mass alert warning

Dialog Telekom PLC in collaboration with its partners Dialog University of Moratuwa Mobile Communications Research Laboratory and Microimage Technologies together with the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) of Sri Lanka launched Sri Lanka’s first ever mass alert warning system; the ‘Disaster and Emergency Warning Network’ (DEWN) yesterday under the patronage of Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister, Mahinda Samarasinghe.

Speaking on the launch of DEWN Group Chief Executive Officer, Dialog Telekom PLC, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya said that “There are 10 million people in this country who have access to telecommunication and mobile services. Now the mobile has become a powerful tool which could be called as a ‘Digital Empowerment Device’ and our citizens are digitally empowered into the digital network”. Dr. Wijayasuriya went onto say that now one can even provide banking and other information services via a mobile phone unit adding that the Dialog News Alert service has now reached 350,000 subscribers.

Cell Broadcast warning service in Japan

In 2008, DoCoMo Japan, will begin a severe-weather and earthquake warning service using the cell broadcast service. Data from the meteorological agency will be broadcast to phones from cell towers.
Included will be earthquake warnings that will flow from a new system introduced earlier this year that attempts to give notice to people in the few seconds between an earthquake striking and the strong shaking waves reaching people.

New York will send crisis text via CB

Sept 2007_Abstract NY Post:
In the aftermath of the Deutsche Bank fire and the
Midtown steam-pipe explosion, city officials yesterday announced they
will begin testing rapid-alert programs to rush text messages to New
Yorkers' cellphones. Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler told lawmakers at a City Council hearing that a
pilot program using text messages as an early-alert system for
communities will be ready to roll out within a few months.

"We expect to launch the pilot at the end of this year. At the same
time, we are wary of it, because we know that the communications
infrastructure isn't as reliable as we would like," he said of brief
text messages that would be limited to 60 characters.

The Bloomberg administration has its eyes on what could be a more
effective alert system that would use mobile-phone networks to send
emergency messages to anyone carrying a phone within a specific swath of
the city.

Called "cell broadcasting," the alert system would require mobile-phone
companies to make upgrades to their infrastructure - changes that City
Hall is pushing for.

"It is not possible for us to use cell broadcasting today, because
wireless carriers have resisted investing resources in this emerging
technology," Skyler said.

Abstract NYpost

Cell Broadcast services in India

The Indian operator BSNL has introduced a cell broadcast services through which vital information and messages can be given to all subscribers in a particular or entire service area.
Cell broadcast services can be utilised to provide vital information about any disaster, disaster management measures or any other important information. The location-based services include different services, including: traffic alert service, emergency service, public safety and information regarding weather etc.
BSNL cellular service in India has more than 17.8 million cellular customers, garnering 24 percent of all mobile users as its subscribers.

Cell Broadcast named in Wikipedia

An explication about Cell Broadcasting can be found in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_Broadcast

The potential of Cell Broadcast technology

The ability to broadcast messages has been around since the GSM Phase 2 Technology Specification was introduced in 1995. However, only in the last few years have network operators, started to deploy cell broadcast-based services.

Why did they take so long? The answer is simple: business managers at wireless operators did not think they could generate a profit with a one-directional, subscriptionless broadcast service. However, it is now clear that cell broadcast is a useful service with profit potential that enables operators to provide broadcast information to specifically targeted subgroups of their subscriber base.

In today's handsets, selecting a channel can be a tedious task. Another helpful GSM feature is "Over the Air programming of the SIM card." Potentially, subscribers could select their preferred channels on the carrier's Web site and have them downloaded onto the SIM card in their handsets via this technology (under full control of the carrier).

Cell broadcast technology is in an early adoption stage in North America. The technology is available, but work needs to be done to package it and offer it as a product to subscribers. For GSM network operators, it is a challenge to define services that will use the cell broadcast capability of their network. Currently a cell broadcast service is also being defined for CDMA. It is a matter of time before the first cell broadcast-based service will be launched in the U.S. This is yet another opportunity for GSM operators to differentiate themselves from PCS competitors.

Abstract article SYS-CON Media Inc.

Cell Phones Join Emergency Broadcast Network

12 July 2006:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of the Department of Homeland Security in the USA, is demonstrating today a new system for warnings to be sent as text messages to mobile cell phones.
The warnings, for terrorist attacks or natural disasters such as hurricanes, are intended to be of use to both emergency responders and the general public. In many cases, the text messages sent to mobile phones will alert the reader to check TV stations for more information.
By the end of the year, Homeland Security expects to roll it out first in the Gulf Coast states, hard hit by recent hurricanes, and then to large cities around the country. Consumers will automatically receive the alerts, but can opt out.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with technology research firm Current Analysis, noted that automated text messages for emergencies are already used in such countries as the UK and Israel.
"I think we're going to hit a point soon, with 3G and so on, where you won't need to go to another medium," he said. "You can watch the video or audio information, as well as receive the text messages, on your cell phone." He pointed out that a 3G system also could provide more bandwidth than the current system, to avoid overloading.