New emergency alert system expected on phones by year-end

Finland’s new emergency alert system is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, Yle reports.

“I believe we will have it by then,” Kimmo Rousku, a leading specialist at the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, said on Yle’s morning programme.

The Cell Broadcast system would allow authorities to send alerts quickly and within a geographically defined area to phones located in the danger zone, without requiring users to install a separate application.

The system will complement the existing channels used for emergency alerts. Earlier estimates suggested it would be completed no later than 2027.