The Communications and Press Ministry is preparing to make mobile operators responsible for urgently informing their customers of emergency situations, Izvestia reported Monday.
The issue of alerting the population about potential threats came into the spotlight after the deadly 2012 floods in south Russia, which left more than 100 people dead. Regional emergency officials, who had at least three hours advance knowledge of the impending disaster, said they had broadcast flood warnings on local television and radio, despite the fact that torrential rains had cut power to much of the area.
“The possibility of making providers of telecommunications services responsible for transmitting emergency alerts on a free and compulsory basis” should be studied, and this duty should be included into the companies’ licenses, according to a working document from the ministry, Izvestia reported.
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