The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and major telecom operators have set up a virtual cell broadcast entity (CBE) system as an interim solution to urgently enable national disaster response capabilities, pending the complete establishment of a CBE system by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM).
The latest move is in response to the massive deadly quake that took place in Myanmar on Friday that was also experienced in Thailand.
The regulator called an urgent meeting yesterday on the issue of the tremor with major mobile operators, representatives of the Digital Economy and Society Ministry (DES), the DDPM, Apple and Line Thailand.
NBTC acting secretary-general Trairat Viriyasirikul said the meeting acknowledged that major operators have already developed a virtual CBE to enable disaster response capabilities.
LACK OF A COMPLETE SYSTEM
Related public agencies and private telecom operators have already tested a cell broadcast service (CBS) disaster warning system nationwide, which was initially scheduled for completion in the middle of this year.
The CBS system requires two key parts, the CBE system and the cell broadcast centres (CBCs), to work.
The DDPM is responsible for the establishment of the CBE system to be the central command post for controlling warnings. It will be responsible for creating, managing and approving the content of the alerts and defining the areas to be notified.
However, the DDPM is still carrying out procurement of the CBE system.
Private telecom operators serve as CBCs, tasked with broadcasting DDPM-approved messages through designated cell towers within the specified alert zones. They have all established their CBC systems, which they have been testing since last year.
The CBS system permits a number of unacknowledged general messages to be broadcast to all receivers within a particular region.
The system differs from a regular SMS because it doesn't require specified phone numbers, allowing for rapid and efficient communication of emergency information that covers the entire affected area. People also do not need to download any specific apps.
VIRTUAL SYSTEM
Mr Trairat said under the virtual CBE system, the DDPM will dispatch text alert messages to the NBTC and operators.
The operators will then transfer direct messages to all phone users. The messages will show up as pop-up notifications.
However, he added that the CBS system covers mobile users who have 3G, 4G and 5G mobile devices, while 2G users would still receive an SMS alert.
Mr Trairat said the NBTC also asked Line Thailand to provide warning messages in the case of an emergency via its banner system to all Line users in the country.
Line has 56 million users in Thailand but only 200,000 users registered with its Line Alert.
Mr Trairat said that on March 28, the DDPM sent different message IDs about the alert messages to the NBTC and the telecom operators.
A message ID is a unique identifier, often a string of alphanumeric characters, assigned to a digital message, to track and identify specific messages.
However, Apple iPhone devices did not receive the alert messages, given the DDPM's different message IDs.
Mr Trairat said representatives of the DDPM are committed to solving this issue within 48 hours.
Currently, the number of Android phone users in Thailand accounts for more than 60% of all mobile phone users, while the remainder use the Apple iOS system.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said SMS alerts warning people about Friday's earthquake in Myanmar should have been sent out more quickly to everyone and should have provided more useful information relevant to such an emergency.
In response, Passakorn Boonyalak, director-general of the DDPM, stated that his agency had sent the first text message to the NBTC for dissemination at 2.42pm.
The message informed recipients that it was safe to return to buildings to collect their belongings.
Mr Trairat told the premier that the message was broadcast at 2.44pm to about 10 million mobile phone numbers, in batches of 200,000, across Bangkok and three surrounding provinces.
The premier instructed both agencies to find a way to overcome the technical limitation that currently restricts each broadcast to a maximum of 200,000 recipients at a time.
She urged them to increase this capacity to 1 million recipients per broadcast while awaiting the full implementation of the CBS.
