The Homefront Command has set up a national SMS text message alert system to warn and instruct residents in time of emergency. A dispute between the Homefront Command and the Ministry of Communications has the project deadlocked to the point that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has become personally involved. While the Homefront Command officials have made numerous appeals to the ministry to move things along with the nation’s cellular telephone providers; the military claims the requests have been ignored.
The military wishes to obtain broadcast priority that will enable it to send an emergency message directly to the mobile phones of citizens without fear the message will be placed in a queue and therefore delayed for one reason or another. Military experts explain that if one looks at an erev Rosh Hashanah for example, text messages are delayed as millions are sending good wishes from phone to phone. If the military is permitted to access the Direct Broadcast system, it will have the capability of bypassing the phone companies and broadcast directly, pushing a national priority message to the recipients without concern of delays.
The problem is that today phones imported to Israel are blocked to the Direct Broadcast messaging by the cellular companies. The IDF has been in direct contact with phone manufacturers and have learned the Direct Broadcast technology is included in the phones if requested but it is blocked on the local level by the cellular companies in Israel. In addition, the companies are not compelled to request the option on phones imported into the country.
The military reports it has requested that the ministry instruct the cell companies to have the Direct Broadcast option in all phones and to permit accessing it. The ministry however explains the number of phones with Direct Broadcasting today is fewer than in the past and it will not compel the companies to include it since it is a free marketplace.
The military experts explain “Just like consumers demand the phones have music and games, the phones must also include the Direct Broadcast option” but to date, government bureaucrats are not of the same opinion.
Homefront Commander Major-General Eyal Eisenberg turned to the prime minister who agreed to become involved, speaking with senior ministry officials. Eisenberg explains the Direct Broadcast system could have been a key component in notifying residents during the tragic Carmel Fire to instruct area residents how to act. Another example is the annual request from Israel Police seeking assistance in handling the hundreds of thousands of mispallalim visiting Meron on Lag B’Omer. The military’s point is there is a need for maintain an ability to notify large groups of residents in situations other than an attack and therefore the IDF must be granted direct broadcast access to send text messages to citizens’ mobile phones.
According to a Major Rishon newspaper report, a senior ministry official says he and his colleagues are on board and are in total agreement with the Homefront Command, denying accusations that they are sabotaging the Direct Broadcast system. The senior ministry official adds “we even conducted a number of system tests last year”, blaming the IDF for the delay in the Direct Broadcast system failing to go live.
The military plans to significantly expand its nationwide notification abilities to include overriding TV and radio broadcasts, as well as entering PCs via IP addresses. Such a system experts feel will be useful and necessary towards notifying citizens in an urgent situation such as water contamination or other scenarios that demand immediate action.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
Most executives will tell you they have been faced with these types of blame games before, and the solution is usually “Just get it done; don’t tell me why it can’t be done; I expect it to be done in a week.”
Bibi, time to act like an executive – the election is over.