On Tuesday, the Rescue Board, Information System Authority (RIA), the Women's Voluntary Defense Organization (Naiskodukaitse), and the Ministry of the Interior's Information Technology and Development Center (SMIT), tested sending EE-ALARM test notifications to users through the Estonian app and Ole valmis! mobile application.

The test notifications were supposed to reach those who had downloaded the apps and allowed the agencies to send warning messages.

Kai Kallas, head of RIA's personal state department, said the test showed that emergency alerts reach users quickly and reliably. "But technically, the push notification function and the system's load capacity still need fine-tuning," she added.

"We believe that the emergency alert test definitely fulfilled its purpose. The Estonian app's notification was sent out today at 11:37 a.m. and reached 130,000 mobile devices within seconds, where the app had been downloaded and configured," Kallas told Vikerraadio's "Uudis+" program.

The Eesti.ee app has been downloaded onto approximately 160,000 phones, but notifications only reached 130,000.

Some users did not receive pop-up notifications, and this may be connected to their own phone settings: "This may be related to the permissions granted to the app, but this gives us an opportunity to learn and further analyze how to improve the system."

But things fared less well for the Ole valmis! app. The notification was sent at 12:08 p.m., but it did not reach everyone.

Later, users also experienced issues logging into the Eesti.ee app. "We are currently analyzing whether the problem was related to increased load after sending the notifications or to some other technical factor," said Kallas.

Another test will take place in December.

State developing additional solutions

The state is developing direct-to-phone alert systems that would function even without internet or mobile connectivity.

One solution under development is a "pocket siren" for smartphones, based on 5G broadcast technology.

"The pocket siren works without an internet connection or a SIM card from a mobile operator. What's important is that you're in a coverage area where 5G media broadcasting is available, and this signal reaches roughly 70 to 80 kilometers from major towers," said Levira's Director of Technology and IT, Kristo Kaasan.

Although the solution is technically ready, it does not comply with European Union regulations. The pocket siren operates in a frequency band used for digital television in the EU, and emergency alerts cannot be transmitted on that frequency.

"This needs to be agreed upon across EU member states and the necessary changes made. The earliest this could realistically happen is sometime in the early 2030s," Kaasan said.

A cell broadcast system, or flash alert system, could be implemented sooner — but not before the beginning of 2027. The development of these systems is expected to cost around €5 million in total.

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