The largest mobile operator in Sri Lanka today launched a Disaster and Emergency Warning Network to everyone on its network. Dialog GSMs warning system lets the Sri-Lankan government issue alerts and warnings to all of the operators subscribers, targeted by location. What I find very interesting about this story is that the entire system is based on a mobile advertising solution from Celltick, which was originally designed to display ads on mobile idle-screens
Celltick’s Cell Broadcast Centre has been designed as an operator-level service, which will push information out to the idle-screen of any device. This allows the Sri-Lankan government to issue warnings through Dialog GSM to any of it’s subscribers. Apparently the solution has already been tested during tsunamis and terror attacks in Southeast Asia, and was extremely effective. Subscribers are issued warnings, advice and specific instructions.
From the release:
“In a potential disaster situation or emergency, the cell broadcast solution has the capability to reach out to thousands with specific instructions or pre-defined messages. These messages can offer an early warning and avoidance of further hindrances to the general public,” said Thivanka Rangala, Group Chief Commercial Officer of Dialog Telekom. “Celltick’s CBC Channel was greatly useful in implementing DEWN in Sri Lanka, and the broadcast is immune to congestion and will reach our subscribers irrespective of voice or SMS congestion at the time. This is a fine example of the next level of mobile empowerment.”
Stephen Dunford, CEO Celltick, said: “Celltick is proud to offer Dialog a dual mode solution, one that has a proven revenue stream using the LiveScreen Media platform, which can easily switch to a critical life-saving mass alert system. We believe that additional operators will select Celltick’s CBC to support mobile alert and warning systems and will launch LiveScreen Media on the same platform in peaceful times to support their marketing initiatives.”
What we think?
I’ve always considered idle-screen advertising to be one of the most striking example of “ad creep” – the process by which advertising gradually spreads to every available surface and space. It’s usually extremely annoying – in the case of idle-screen, if the service is opt-in and offers incentives, it CAN be very effective. However, it’s not always opt-in, and that can make it very intrusive. However, the very things that make it an invasive advertising tool also make it ideal for disaster management. The messages are automatically displayed on the front screen of the device, so it’s the first thing you see when you pick up your phone. It’s possible to update them in real-time, allowing for much more effective spread of information. It’s also targetable by the location of the device, so more specific information can be sent to people in different areas.
