Rapid Fire
Emergency Alert Messages in Cell Phones
- 28 Sep 2024
- 2 min read
Recently, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) mandated that all feature phones in India must support auto-readout of emergency messages in Hindi and English. This order has raised concern among mobile manufacturers.
- Feature phones provide more features than basic cell phones but are not as advanced as smartphones.
- Key Provision of DoT Order:
- All phones sold in India must support auto-readout of emergency messages in Hindi and English, with manufacturers required to add support for four additional Indian languages each year until full language support is achieved.
- Alert signals (sound, vibration, light) must last for 30 seconds under standard conditions and 15 seconds for auto-read messages or until the user acknowledges them.
- Concerns of Phone Manufacturers:
- Feature phones lack sufficient memory for text-to-audio conversion.
- New requirements will increase production costs.
- Redesigning phones will affect production timelines.
- Smaller Indian brands may face challenges in complying with Indian Wireless Telegraphy (Cell Broadcasting Service for Disaster Alerts) Act, 2023, risking their market position.
- The Act mandates that no smartphone or feature phone can be manufactured or sold in India without cell broadcast capabilities.
Read More: Emergency Alert System
