OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Wireless and broadcasting service providers were scheduled Wednesday to conduct more public alerting tests in eight provinces and two territories and reports this time are far more positive than the ones from Monday's tests in Ontario and Quebc.
Test alerts on May 9 were scheduled as follows:
- Yukon 1:30 PM (PST)
- Northwest Territories 1:55 PM (MDT)
- Alberta 1:55 PM (MDT)
- British Colombia 1:55 PM (PDT)
- Saskatchewan 1:55 PM (CST)
- Manitoba 1:55 PM (CDT)
- Newfoundland & Labrador 1:55 PM (NDT)
- Nova Scotia 1:55 PM (ADT)
- Prince Edward Island 1:55 PM (ADT)
- New Brunswick 6:55 PM (ADT)
Ontario and Quebec underwent their testing on Monday, May 7 with problematic results, which are still being analyzed.
Every compatible mobile device connected to an LTE network in the targeted provinces and territories was to receive the test alert, which was also to be distributed on television and radio in the same regions.
Mid-day, after the tests happened out east, Pelmorex, the company which created and operates the alerting system, said the alerts were "successfully processed by the National Alert Aggregation and Dissemination System (NAAD System) and distributed to radio, television and wireless service providers in the province. Wireless service providers have verified that the test message was successfully distributed across their LTE wireless networks in the province. This follows efforts by Alert Ready partners to collaboratively identify and resolve issues experienced during tests earlier in the week.
"Wireless service providers are working to verify the handset reception success rate for compatible devices. Canadians in the province who did not receive an alert via their cell phone can check for their device compatibility at alertready.ca," said Pelmorex's statement.
While there have been reports from Canadians online today out west who did not receive the alerts in the various regions, there are a large number of moving parts with this system (including modern handsets which may not yet have been updated with the required operating system upgrades needed to receive the alerts), and further work and testing will happen soon.
Test alerts are conducted to ensure that the alerting system is functional, and to create awareness of national public alerting system among Canadians.
To learn more about test alerts and to find out if a cellphone is capable of receiving emergency alerts, visit Alert Ready.
