Free does not send the FR-Alert emergency message, subscribers forgotten during floods
The FR-Alert system, implemented in 2022, is designed to warn the population of imminent dangers directly on their smartphones. Except that a major malfunction occurred: Free subscribers did not receive the alert, or received it much later.
Free subscribers did not receive the alert message
One of our Digital editors and his partner, subscribers to Free Mobile, were able to observe the same problem yesterday in Gard. Living not far from Avignon, where flooding of the Rhône was announced, he received no alert. However, his mother, a Bouygues Telecom customer, received the information message.
As a reminder, Météo France has placed several departments on orange vigilance and six on red vigilance, the highest alert level. In Ardèche, the situation is very worrying with blocked roads, evacuations and interventions by firefighters. Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Ecological Transition, described this episode as “never seen before in living memory”.
The message sent to residents' smartphones via FR-Alert asked them to return home before 6 p.m. and to turn off the water, gas and electricity for safety. Bouygues Telecom, SFR and Orange customers received the alert, unlike Free Mobile subscribers.
Why does FR-Alert not work with Free?
This is not the first time that the operator has encountered problems with the FR-Alert system. Last January, during a tsunami warning test, Free customers did not receive the message. The exact cause of this malfunction remains unknown, but hypotheses point to problems linked to SIBs (System Information Blocks) or to software incompatibility on Free's antennas.
Free and the authorities must therefore quickly resolve this dysfunction since in emergency situations, the rapid and reliable reception of alerts can make the difference and even save lives. Obviously, in the event of extreme weather events, we must continue to obtain information via traditional media and the official social networks of the competent authorities.
