Sofia, Bulgaria – The BG-Alert early warning system for disasters and emergencies once again failed to deliver SMS notifications to citizens during its scheduled test on Tuesday, raising concerns about its reliability in real crisis situations.
At precisely 11 a.m., only the sirens were successfully activated, while a significant number of people did not receive the expected text message alerts, according to widespread reports. The scheduled test had promised that messages from the BG-Alert system would be transmitted to mobile users across the country.
However, this is not the first time the system has failed; a similar issue was reported during the previous test in October 2023, when the majority of users also did not receive alerts.
During the October trial, the Ministry of Interior claimed that notifications had been successfully sent to 98% of citizens, but that receiving them required specific settings to be enabled on mobile devices.
Authorities had previously assured that in real emergency scenarios, such settings would not be necessary. Nevertheless, the persistent failures have left many questioning the system’s effectiveness.
At a briefing following the latest test, Chief Commissioner Alexander Dzhartov, Director of the General Directorate “Fire Safety and Population Protection,” acknowledged the issue.
He stated that while 98% of mobile operator cells in Bulgaria had correctly transmitted the message, 2% had failed to respond. Despite this, many users remained unaware of any alert being sent to their phones.
Dzhartov emphasized that mobile phone settings play a crucial role in receiving test messages. Many mobile devices have the test channel disabled by default, requiring manual activation for notifications to be received.
Other factors that may have prevented users from receiving the alert include being in airplane mode, using incompatible devices, or experiencing a lack of Internet or mobile signal at the time of transmission.
While authorities have described the test as largely successful, with most mobile operator cells successfully transmitting messages, critics argue that a system intended for life-saving alerts should not require manual adjustments from users.
There are also calls for greater transparency from telecom operators regarding the 2% failure rate, though Dzhartov clarified that the Ministry of Interior does not have the authority to mandate mobile providers to install signal cells in specific areas.
Currently, 85 municipalities and six regional administrations have trained personnel capable of operating the BG Alert system. Additional training sessions are scheduled for 20 more individuals, bringing the total number of trained users to 129.
However, Dzhartov noted that local authorities are not obligated to train their representatives or implement the system.
Meanwhile, the national early warning siren system, which was also tested alongside the BG-Alert system, is still undergoing evaluation, with officials yet to release a comprehensive report on its performance.
As public confidence in the BG-Alert system wavers, the latest test failure has intensified scrutiny over Bulgaria’s emergency preparedness, with calls for improvements to ensure that critical alerts reach citizens when they are needed most.
This article was created using automation technology and was thoroughly edited and fact-checked by one of our editorial staff members