OVOO Cell Broadcast receives a warning from the national alerting authority in CAP 1.2, resolves the target area to radio cells and delivers the message to 4G, 5G NSA and 5G SA networks. Handsets in the target cells that support Cell Broadcast display the alert without an app and without a subscriber list, and broadcast time does not grow with the number of recipients.
Public warning puts the operator between the authority that writes the message and the subscribers who must receive it. Cell Broadcast adds four properties that SMS alerts do not have.
01
One request per MME or AMF for each campaign action, independent of the number of recipients, and the radio network repeats the message. An SMS alert sends one message per subscriber through the SMSC and paging.
02
The target is a list of cells or Tracking Areas inside a polygon, a circle or an administrative unit, not a whole county or region.
03
Roaming subscribers in the area receive the alert as well. The second language goes out on the additional-language channel in the same campaign.
04
The network confirms where the broadcast started, and the post-event report gives the authority a record per network element.
OVOO Cell Broadcast sits between the warning authority and the mobile core. It receives CAP 1.2 messages from the Cell Broadcast Entity, sends warnings to the MME over SBc-AP for 4G and 5G NSA and to the AMF over N50 for 5G SA, and collects the network confirmations into the campaign status and the post-event report. The radio network broadcasts the warning to handsets in the target cells.
The cards below summarise the operator's gains in business terms. Technical detail follows in the features section.
OVOO CBC connects to the existing MME and AMF over standard 3GPP interfaces. The radio network already carries Cell Broadcast; the operator adds the CBC and the peer configuration, not new network nodes.
One system serves 4G, 5G NSA and 5G SA. One area definition gives consistent targets on both paths, so campaigns do not need to be set up twice.
A campaign sends one request per MME or AMF instead of one SMS per subscriber. The SMSC and paging stay free for regular traffic during an emergency.
Warnings target cells inside a polygon, a circle or an administrative unit. People outside the threat area are not alarmed.
Cell Broadcast support is built into handset operating systems. The operator does not depend on app installations, location permissions or push notification services.
The CBC runs on the operator's telco cloud, on virtual machines or containers, and reports to the operator's monitoring, SIEM and backup. No dedicated hardware lowers the total cost of ownership.
Article 110 of the European Electronic Communications Code (Directive (EU) 2018/1972), often called "reverse 112", requires Member States with a public warning system to ensure that providers of mobile number-based interpersonal communications services transmit public warnings to the end users concerned, from 21 June 2022. In 2026 European markets are at different stages of adapting to it: many run EU-Alert over Cell Broadcast, while others rely on location-based SMS or apps and are discussing Cell Broadcast.
| Item | What it means for the operator |
|---|---|
| EECC Article 110(1) | Warnings reach end users through mobile networks; the article is technology-neutral, and Cell Broadcast and location-based SMS both qualify (BEREC BoR (19) 255) |
| EU-Alert (ETSI TS 102 900) | The European Cell Broadcast profile: Message Identifiers for EU-Alert channels, including Level 1 to Level 4, EU-Amber, EU-Exercise and EU-Test, with local-language and additional-language channels |
| 3GPP TS 22.268 and TS 23.041 | PWS requirements and the Cell Broadcast Service, including the SBc and N50 procedures |
| National CAP profiles | Authorities send warnings in OASIS CAP 1.2 with a national profile; the CBC maps severity and urgency to EU-Alert channels, and the profile is set per market |
| Markets adding Cell Broadcast | Countries that use SMS today are adding Cell Broadcast; in Poland, for example, alerts go out as SMS and the Ministry of the Interior is in talks with mobile operators about launching Cell Broadcast alongside SMS in 2026 |
The features are grouped by the area of work they support. Interfaces follow 3GPP, ETSI and OASIS specifications.
The web console gives the alert team one place to plan, launch and review campaigns. It works in the browser, and every console function is also available from the CLI.
OVOO Cell Broadcast is built on the OVOO Messaging Gateway platform, which runs in production messaging traffic. The operator chooses the deployment model that matches its telco cloud; every model runs across two active/active sites.
Many markets use SMS alerts today, and public warning apps add maps and detailed guidance. The table compares the three channels; Cell Broadcast reaches everyone in the area, and SMS and apps complement it.
| Property | SMS alert | Public warning app | Cell Broadcast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addressing | per phone number | per app installation with location permission | per cell or Tracking Area |
| Reach | subscribers with a number registered in the area | only users who installed the app and allowed location | handsets in range that support Cell Broadcast, including roaming visitors |
| Dependency | SMSC and paging | mobile data and push notification services (APNs, FCM) | cell broadcast channel of the radio network |
| Delivery under load | queued, time grows with the audience | depends on data connectivity and push delivery | time independent of the audience |
| Target area | set by the SMS system, often an administrative region | app-defined zones | cells inside any polygon or circle |
| Phone entering the area after the send | not reached | reached if the app tracks location | receives the active alert while the broadcast runs |
| Message content | short text, limited by SMS length | rich content: maps, links, images, guidance | up to 15 CBS pages (about 600 characters with national diacritics in UCS2) |
| Roaming visitors | separate SMS in another language | only if they install the app | second language on the additional-language channel, same campaign |
| Silent mode | not bypassed | depends on app and OS settings | alert tone plays in silent mode on most handsets |
| User opt-out | not applicable | uninstall or disable notifications | Level 1 cannot be switched off |
A handset that is switched off, out of coverage or has Cell Broadcast channels disabled does not receive the alert.
An engagement starts from the operator's network and the national profile, not from a generic template. The steps below take a project from the first workshop to service start.
Radio technologies, MME and AMF vendors and versions, NRF and SCP model, MORAN arrangements.
Agree it with the authority: severity mapping, area codes, heartbeat, signature and error codes.
Cell database export, coverage model (site point, sector or polygon), update frequency.
IaaS, CaaS or hybrid, two sites, network planes for SCTP.
Deploy in the operator's lab and run interoperability tests with its MME and AMF, then production, tests with the national Cell Broadcast Entity, pilot and handover to 24/7 operations.
A Cell Broadcast Centre (CBC) is the network function that receives warnings from the authority and sends them to the mobile core for broadcast in selected cells. In 4G it connects to the MME over SBc; in 5G SA it acts as the CBCF and connects to the AMF over N50.
An SMS alert goes to individual phone numbers, and delivery time grows with the number of recipients. A warning app reaches only users who installed it and allowed location, over mobile data and push notifications. Cell Broadcast sends one message per MME or AMF for each campaign action, and handsets in the selected cells that support it display the alert.
No. Cell Broadcast support is built into the handset operating system. The highest alert level cannot be switched off; users can disable lower levels in the phone settings.
4G and 5G NSA over SBc to the MME, and 5G SA over N50 to the AMF. 2G (CBSP) and 3G (SABP) are not in scope.
Article 110 requires warnings to reach users through mobile networks and does not prescribe one technology. Cell Broadcast in the EU-Alert profile is used by many Member States, and it does not depend on subscriber lists or app installations.
Exercise campaigns use the EU-Exercise channel defined in ETSI TS 102 900 and CAP status "Exercise". The campaign class is locked after the draft is saved, and exercise reports are tagged separately. Many handsets do not display the exercise channel by default, so an exercise tests the procedure and the report rather than reach on handsets.
In the operator's cloud or data centre, on virtual machines, Kubernetes containers or a hybrid of both, across two active/active sites. Radio data and campaign data stay inside the operator's infrastructure.
Leave your details and we will show the OVOO Cell Broadcast console on a demonstration scenario: area, campaign, exercise and post-event report.
