The Government launches two projects that improve emergency services of 112 by allowing the geolocation of the call and the sending of messages in case of imminent catastrophes

28/07/2021

Both the possibility of sending mass warnings to the population through the phone in emergency situations or major catastrophes, and the location of the incoming call to 112, will allow faster and more effective attention to the citizen in case of emergencies.

The first of the projects promotes the implementation of the Advanced Mobile Location system, which allows to determine the location of the caller to 112 with the information of his mobile

The second project regulates the alert messages that will be transmitted through mobile networks, as established by the European Code of Electronic Communications and the Preliminary Draft General Telecommunications Law

The implementation of alert platforms to send immediate warnings to the population in emergency situations is one of the measures of the Recovery Plan

Public hearings will be open until September 15

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation launches the project of Royal Decree regulating emergency communications using the unique emergency number “112” and the project of Real Decreto por el que regula el sistema de alertas públicas en caso de grandes catástrofes o emergencias inminentes o en curso. Both projects will update the 112 emergency service regulations, in line with the provisions of the European Electronic Communications Code and the Preliminary Draft General Law on Telecommunications

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation launches the project of Real Decree regulating emergency communications using the unique emergency number “112” and the project of Royal Decree regulating the system of public alerts in case of major disasters or emergencies imminent or in progress.

The legal framework established by the Royal Decree projects was already subject to public consultation in February of last year. The first of the projects, promotes the implementation of the AML (Advance Mobile Location) system, and allows to determine the location of the caller to 112 in a much more precise way, based on the information of the mobile terminal, so that faster and more effective care can be done to the citizen in case of emergency.

As for the project of Royal Decree regulating the system of public alerts in case of major disasters or emergencies imminent or in progress, it will allow to create a system of public alerts (Public Warning System, PWS) that serves to send mass and immediate warnings to the population in case of major disasters and imminent emergencies through mobile telephone networks. The European Code of Electronic Communications establishes that countries will have such a system from June 2022.

Recently, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation and the Ministry of the Interior have signed an agreement to develop this system of public alerts that specifies the second of the projects, and that will be part of the National Alert Network (RAN) of Civil Protection.

The implementation of platforms that can send warnings to the population in emergency situations or major disasters is one of the measures of the Plan for Digital Connectivity and Infrastructures, also included in the Recovery Plan.