Telia customers miss Sweden’s new emergency alert test

Millions of residents in Stockholm and Gotland counties received Monday’s test of Sweden’s new emergency warning system, but many Telia customers did not, SVT reported.

“The message we sent had more characters than Telia’s limit,” Mikael Frisell, director general of the Agency for Civil Defence, told Sveriges Radio.

About 2.6 million mobile phones sounded at around 3pm, accompanied by a message on the screen in the first test of the SE Alert warning system.

Telia is now analysing why many of its customers did not receive the alert. The company said during the day that the exercise was a test and that it was positive that the problem had been identified.

“We have worked closely with Telia. They have conducted an analysis, and I have spoken to the company’s management,” Frisell said.