On Wednesday, the Danish mobile warning system, “S!renen”, was tested across the country, and according to the Danish Emergency Management Agency (Beredskabsstyrelsen), the alert was sent from 99 percent of all mobile phone towers. This figure is identical to last year’s test, indicating a stable performance in the technical transmission of the system. Kristian Anker-Møller, a special consultant at the Danish Emergency Management Agency, explains that even though the technology functioned as intended, it doesn’t guarantee that all Danes with a mobile phone received the alert. “Last year, two out of three Danes received the warning, and we hope for an improvement this year,” he says.
To get a clearer picture of how effective this test has been, the Danish Emergency Management Agency will conduct a survey among a representative sample of the population. The results of this survey are expected to be available by mid-May. “S!renen” was first tested in May last year and has since been used in two serious situations. One situation was a ship fire in Køge, where harmful smoke developed, and the other was a storm flood in October, where a dam broke near Aabenraa.
Kristian Anker-Møller emphasizes that there is no set goal for how many people should receive the test alert, but the aim is to reach or exceed the coverage of the physical warning sirens, which is between 75-80 percent. “We are working on improving the system continuously and hope that even more people will receive the alert in the future,” he concludes.