Emergency alert test

You may have gotten an emergency alert test on your mobile device today at 1:55 pm, or you may not have. The nation-wide system was tested in Ontario and Quebec, but only some phones got the message.

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications commission now requires cell phone providers to offer this emergency system. Similar to the system that caused panic in Hawaii at the beginning of the year when a message about an impending missile strike was mistakenly sent to cell phones.

In Quebec a typo by programmers prevented success. In Ontario only some phones received the message. The problem is still under investigation, officials say this is why the system was tested before an emergency.

Alert Ready released a statement that reads in part, “we understand that some wireless users did not receive the test alert. All Alert Ready partners are working together to identify the cause.”