Nationwide test of the Emergency Mobile Alert system 14 June 2026

Forums › New Zealand Mobile and Wireless › Nationwide test of the Emergency Mobile Alert system 14 June 2026

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Stu

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#3503049 15-Jun-2026 09:23

Rikkitic:

freitasm:

I don't think feature phones/dumb phones have support for emergency alerts.

Apparently not. It just surprises me that I would not even receive an emergency text after the fact. It is an emergency, after all. People might switch their phones on after something happens to see what is going on.

You won't know for sure unless your phone is on prior to the alert being sent. As @cisconz alluded to above, it's not sent as an SMS message, and won't be received after turning a phone on after the alert is sent. For whatever reason, that is the way the system is designed to work.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

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#3503104 15-Jun-2026 12:05

gzt:
CYaBro: Thanks. Those of us that rely on wifi calling at home don't have to worry about these. 😂

Even so, I'd really really like to know if Lake Taupo blows the big one, or the Wellington fault triggers and the government goes offline. You'd think a nationwide test would include VoWifi users for those reasons. Sure some might be in another country but I'm sure they'd like to know about an NZ nationwide alert anyway..

Edit: Test due Sunday evening..

If Taupo goes properly, you'll know ...

Mike

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#3503122 15-Jun-2026 13:10

Stu:

No phone (dumb or smart) is going to receive the alert if it's switch off at the time the alert is sent.

I don't believe this is actually 100% true, during real alerts I've had them redeliver when the phone goes out of signal and reconnects (either naturally, or toggling airplane mode/reboot), I'm not sure if it's a quirk of RCG towers or just in general.

I'd have to go hunting, but I'm pretty sure I commented about it in a thread here, vague recollection is that it was an alert sent on the same day as an iOS update, so the extra copies were as it rebooted, and I think the alert would've either been Tsunami or FENZ Toxic Smoke Hazard, both have reason to be sticky to a location to warn people entering an alert area.

MikeAqua

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#3503129 15-Jun-2026 13:43

I was peacefully 'Napflixing' after a big day in the workshop. Woke up with quite a fright 🤣.

Mike

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#3503147 15-Jun-2026 14:55

snj:

I don't believe this is actually 100% true, during real alerts I've had them redeliver when the phone goes out of signal and reconnects (either naturally, or toggling airplane mode/reboot), I'm not sure if it's a quirk of RCG towers or just in general.

Yeah, a couple of months ago during the BOP cyclone I got the alert three times when driving between towers.

cisconz

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#3503202 15-Jun-2026 15:18

snj:

Stu:

No phone (dumb or smart) is going to receive the alert if it's switch off at the time the alert is sent.

I don't believe this is actually 100% true, during real alerts I've had them redeliver when the phone goes out of signal and reconnects (either naturally, or toggling airplane mode/reboot), I'm not sure if it's a quirk of RCG towers or just in general.

The alert has a time frame - any device connected to the tower within the timeframe recieves the alert - if you move between areas, but are still within the timeframe, then you get the alart again. However if your device does not connect during the timeframe, it will never get the alert - as has happened here.

My understanding is the timeframe is variable.

Hmmmm

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#3503324 15-Jun-2026 17:43

Just curious, but did anyone outside of mobile coverage receive the alert using the "Govt.nz app" ? Does it give an audable and visual alert?

UncleArk

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#3503338 15-Jun-2026 18:00

Urban Christchurch here with two iPhone 11 Pro's, both on Spark billed monthly plans.
Both have converted from physical SIM's to eSIM.

Both phones turned on and working "as normal"... i.e. not in flight mode. Both connected to home Wifi etc... just, well... normal.

Neither made the noise during the time period.

Only one got the message and it only turned up sometime after 10:30pm when I looked out of curiosity and 6:am when I got up (i.e. the phone).

The get ready dot govt page is kinda unhelpful as to why some phones simply never get it...

The only clue is that perhaps the phone is too old...

Still using them (one each, for me and my wife) as they have great battery life still, have the latest iOS and do everything we still need including driving CarPlay and chatGPT...

At my workplace, a large organization, quite a few people reported not getting the alert too.

gzt

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#3503400 15-Jun-2026 21:48

MikeAqua: If Taupo goes properly, you'll know ...

Hopefully there will be a few days warning to buy all the toilet paper or at least long enough to close the windows and turn the TV on. Expect imports of tinned food to rise and no fresh fruit or vegetables for a long time afterwards. Fresh water is likely to be a problem. It will make COVID look like a walk in the park. For those of us who still have air to breathe..

Goosey

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#3504073 18-Jun-2026 17:58

Gonna miss Barry from hidden arts nz, His role in the radio advert was superb. Ahh well, will hopefully hear him again in 12months time.

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