Cell broadcasting is a standard part of every GSM and CDMA digital phone network that can transmit uniform text warnings either to all users or to defined regions. It is different from SMS in that the broadcast relays the message indiscriminately to every phone in a cell tower's receiving area, typically a 3.2-kilometer radius, without having to know individual phone numbers. A cell broadcast usually causes phones to ring before a 162-character message scrolls across phone displays. Callers must have their phones switched on and have activated the function to receive the messages.
The International Herald Tribune is reporting that efforts worldwide are meeting resistance from large cellphone operators who assume that the technology has low commercial potential. At first glance this seems shortsighted and selfish, because a warning system may facilitate emergency broadcasts during disasters (natural or otherwise), hence saving lives, but we suggest that this might actually be a good thing. The article goes on to blithely state: "Once the public routinely looks for emergency broadcasts on their cellphones, some cell users may also opt to receive commercial services paid for by advertisers... One possible service could advise shoppers entering a large store like a Wal-Mart, for example, which items are on sale and where they can be found in the store."
Bluetooth and WAP push-based location-aware advertising is bad enough, thank you very much.
Or perhaps this is an acceptable risk, given the supposedly low cost of implementation (in some areas a digital decoder which costs $15,000 is all that is required) - but consider - if you're continually bombarded by broadcast messages, asking you to opt-in, aren't you likely to turn the functionality off altogether? In which case the entire idea is a washout.
