On Wednesday September 27th at 12pm, all mobile phones in Rome and the surrounding Lazio region are set to receive a message from the new nationwide 'IT-alert' system.
"People who get the message have nothing to fear and don't have to do anything except read it," said Rome's city council in an announcement on Tuesday.
The local authority invited "everyone, whether they have received the message correctly or not" to go to the IT-Alert.it website and fill in a questionnaire, saying "users' responses will allow us to improve the tool."
The test of the system in the capital was originally set to go ahead earlier in September, but was postponed amid bad weather as regional authorities wanted to prevent panic in the case of a genuine emergency.
READ ALSO: ‘IT-Alert’: How Italy will warn you of nearby emergencies via text
It will now go ahead on Wednesday and means all devices connected to mobile networks in the area will ring or vibrate at the same time, with the tone different to usual notifications.
Phones will not receive alert messages “if they are turned off or without reception” and may not make a noise if on silent or set to vibrate.
The system will not require people to subscribe to notification services nor to download any apps.
“Every mobile device connected to the mobile operators’ networks, if turned on, can receive an “IT-alert” message,” the developer's website explains.
IT-Alert, which has already been tested many in other Italian regions, has been set up to warn of "a major emergency or an imminent or ongoing catastrophic event", the website says.
The ongoing test of the system is designed to fine-tune the service before it is rolled out across the country from the end of 2023.
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