International tender was won by Global Consortium Systems Chile SA which must deliver a platform of national coverage that will operate at, no cost to users, the five mobile companies in the country. Emergency alerts received on mobile handsets with compatible format will be similar to an SMS text message, targeted by geography, by location and type of emergency determined by ONEMI.

All Chile remember to Martina Maturana, the girl who ran to the square of the Robinson Crusoe Island in the morning of 27F, to alert their neighbors to the tsunami by ringing a bong. Thanks to this timely warning thousands of life could be saved. Beyond the heroic act of Martina, for the Government is a social duty that security people do not depend only of the luck. In this context, the Department of Telecommunications awarded today the international tender for the implementation of the massive warning system for cell phones that ONEMI will use massively to warn people how to act in cases of emergency.

Emergency alerts received on compatible mobile handsets will be similar to the format of an SMS text message, targeted by geography, by location and type of emergency determined by the ONEMI. One of the major strengths of this technological system, which sends messages of 93 characters, is that operates in RF channels that are not directly affected by congestion, giving greater security at the reception of messages.

"This is a very important step to meet one of the commitments of the President in emergency issues. That families may have a mechanism for timely information that will help save lives before a natural disaster", said the Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter.

Pedro Pablo Errazuriz, Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, said that this development is part of joint efforts made by the SUBTEL and ONEMI: "2010 was succeeded in establishing a new emergency communications system of the State that has multiple backups, and the task this year is to have a communication system operating automatic with the families which will be useful to inform people on time".

For his part, the sub secretary of Telecommunications, Jorge Atton, stated that "this system of massive messages to compatible phones, that will operate from December 2011, may be used in a second stage of gradually in television, as the Free digital TV reception will be deployed in the country, another reason to accelerate the adoption of digital TV law that sets a deadline for TV channels to carry digital coverage areas. In three years 85% of the country will have digital coverage and in five years 100%, after regulatory approval".

Further Details